Upside Down
by carousel333
Summary: Chad becomes twitchy and nervous when he thinks Ryan is hitting on him... is it wrong if he secretly enjoys it? CHADxRYAN
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! This is my new story, I used to post stories here a long time ago under a different pen name, but I'm back. This one is a Ryan/Chad story. I have all but two or three chapters already written, so the updates should come pretty quickly. **

**This chapter is more of an introductory chapter, so read and review and let me know what you think!**

Chad Danforth was extremely confused, and he didn't know why. He blamed it on Ryan Evans, but that is to be explained later.

Chad didn't really have anything in his life to be excited about, but couldn't really complain either. He didn't care too much for school, but got passing grades and that was good enough for him. His family life is decent, they had their ups and downs, but Chad knew deep down his parents loved him, even after the divorce. He is the starting point guard for the Varsity team at East High. His best friend, Troy Bolton, is the team captain. He had a good group of close friends. He didn't consider himself what was deemed a ladies man, but he'd had his fair share of female companionships so to speak. All in all, life was pretty boring for Chad.

He had the same routine everyday. He woke up at the same time everyday. He always went to his locker exactly 3 times a day. He ate lunch at the same table everyday. He had basketball practice at the same time everyday. He liked his routine, and wasn't looking for a way to spice it up. He enjoyed the familiarity of the day-to-day routine.

That is... until Ryan Evans became a permanent fixture in his life.

Chad and Ryan had been in the same school since second grade, when Ryan's family moved to New Mexico from Chicago. Going to school together for so long, of course they knew of each other, but they were never friends, and didn't have any mutual friends. Chad hung out with the jocks of the school, while Ryan focused more on the people into acting and singing. Chad really didn't have a problem with the blonde boy, he just didn't know him that well. It wasn't until high school that they had any classes together. Still they never conversed and never had any reason to, until Troy went over to the dark side, as Chad liked to call it.

Troy had met a girl, Gabriella Montez, on winter vacation. When school started up again, it turned out she had just transferred to East High. This along with some other unfortunate events led Troy to audition for the musical production being held at school.

This is the ultimate event that led Ryan into Chad's life.

They had a couple of unimportant conversations, started acknowledging each other while passing in the hallways, but neither made the effort to hang out with the other.

When Troy initially got the lead over Ryan, there was a lot of animosity between Ryan and the rest of the Wildcat basketball team. But when summer hit, Gabriella quickly formed a bond with Ryan and all of the animosity was washed out.

Chad felt betrayed a second time by Troy when he started hanging out with Sharpay Evans, the evil twin sister of Ryan. Troy turned into a flake, ignored not only his best friend, but the rest of his friends and his girlfriend. Chad had never been so disappointed in Troy in the whole time he'd known him.

Chad guessed since her boyfriend was being king of the assholes, Gabriella formed her friendship with Ryan. She wasn't looking to replace Troy in the love department, she was just looking for someone to talk to, spend time with. Troy now had Sharpay, Kelsi had Jason, Zeke was still pining after Sharpay, and Taylor had Chad.

Chad was in no way involved with Taylor more than a friendly way. He had asked her out after the championship game, but nothing really became of their relationship. They went out on about 5 dates, kissed a couple of times, but the spark was missing, and neither was willing to pretend that it was there. Now, they were pretty much best friends. Chad knew that he could tell Taylor anything, and he trusted her with his life. She gave great advice and was always interested to hear what she had to say.

The day of the staff baseball game, Gabriella invited Ryan to come. After the initial protest of not being a staff member, Ryan accepted the invite.

Chad was speechless as he watched Ryan pitch from the mound. He had no idea he was such a good athlete. He assumed Ryan was strictly acting, dancing, singing, the whole theatrical mumbo jumbo.

Boy was he wrong.

The rest of the summer led Chad and Ryan became actual friends. Even though he had Taylor, and Chad and Troy were back on speaking terms, Ryan was nice to talk to. They didn't talk about deep stuff like he did with Taylor, or basketball like he did with Troy, they just talked about life. They didn't go out of their way to hang out with each other, but when Chad was on break, he would sit with Ryan in the lounge, or they would sit on the golf course while Chad was supposed to be caddying for Ryan.

When their senior year of high school started, that's when it all changed.

That's what Chad went through what he assumed was called a sexual identity crisis.

His nice routine that he was used to went down the drain.

And it was entirely Ryan Evan's fault.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the next part in the story. ****Just FYI, the story mostly takes place from Chad's point-of-view. I didn't mean for that to happen, Chad just kind of took over my mind. Oh, and the chapter lengths are very inconsistant, so pelase forgive me for that. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own High School Musical, or anything associated with it. **

Ryan was leaning against his locker, staring at the ground, trying to pretend he was paying attention to what Sharpay was currently babbling on about. She was moving books in and out of her locker before looking in her mirror and applying a fresh coat of lip gloss. He was bored. School wasn't his forte, but he did okay. He wasn't into the whole school spirit thing like the athletes. He really only bothered with school because of theater. He enjoyed Mrs. Darbus's acting class and unsurprisingly was his best class.

He was brought out of the staring contest he was having with the floor by Sharpay's voice.

" Come on Ryan, please play with me."

Although Ryan was not paying attention to Sharpay thirty seconds earlier, he knew exactly what she was talking about. "Don't you think we're a little old to play this game?"

"You're never too old. I'll pick first. Troy Bolton."

Ryan rolled his eyes, but obliged. "6." Ryan knew that Sharpay loved the fact that he was gay so now she had someone to gossip about guys with. She and Ryan would sit at their local Starbucks and rate every guy that passed their table. Sometime they would even rate movie stars or people that they knew. Sharpay was thankful that her twin was a boy and not a girl. Sharing was never one of her biggest strengths, and being a twin, sharing was a necessity. However being a guy, Sharpay didn't have to share clothes, purses, makeup, shoes, and those were the things that mattered to her the most.

"Disagree. I say 9."

"You would," was Ryan's comeback.

"Pick someone."

"No this is lame."

"Fine, Zeke."

"What are we rating our friends now?" When Sharpay ignores his question and waits for his reply, Ryan answers "7."

"Agreed. You think Zeke is hotter than Troy?"

"Troy's overrated and have you tasted Zeke's cookies?"

Sharpay again ignores his question, knowing very well that Zeke has a crush on her but chooses to ignore that detail as well. "Jason. I say 4."

"Disagree. I give him a 5, his personality bumps him up one."

"Since when does personality matter in this game?"

Ryan just chuckles at his sister's shallowness. He turns his head and looks across the hall and his eyes land on no other than Chad Danforth. Chad was standing with a basketball in his hand, chatting with Troy and various other Wildcat basketball players. As if he knew he was being watched, Chad turned away from the gang currently standing around him and made eye contact with Ryan. Still maintaining eye contact, he mutters to his sister, "Chad."

"Uhh… 6 I guess. He's okay looking but he doesn't do much for me. What about you?"

"9 and a half," he says smirking as Chad finally turns his head to once again focus his attention on his friends.

"Seriously? You're that into Chad?"

"He's hot," was his only retort.

"But Chad? Really?"

Taking his eyes off Chad, he turned to look at his sister. "Troy? Really?"

"Touche," slamming her locker shut and walking down the hallway towards her next class. Ryan took one more glance at Chad before quickly following Sharpay.

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Sitting in class, Chad found himself not paying attention, not that it was a rare occurence. He had no idea what his teacher was talking about so he chose to completely tune her out. He made himself a mental note to ask Taylor to explain this stuff to him later.

Besides this class being a total bore to him, the other reason he wasn't paying attention was because of the staring contest he had with Ryan early that day. No one knew that he was currently going through a sexual identity crisis and he intended to keep it that way. Straight? Gay? Bi even? He didn't know. He kind of wanted to discuss this with someone but who? Troy or Taylor seemed like the obvious choice but he was afraind of what they would think. Both of them meant too much to him, and he didn't want to lose their friendship if they didn't approve. His parents were definitely out, and he didn't feel as if he could trust any of his other friends. That left him to deal with the problem internally.

When he found that Ryan was staring at him, it literally threw him. It made him nervous but he wasn't sure why. It felt something inside churn, but not in a bad way. For some reason, he couldn't force himself to look away. He was drawn to Ryan's steller blue-gray eyes. It was almost as if they sucked him in.

Oh my God! Didn't he just think that Ryan had _stellar _eyes? What is wrong with him? Did have feelings for Ryan Evans? It wasn't possible. Chad was an a multi-sport athlete while Ryan was into acting and fucking jazz squares. Sure the guy was cool to hang out with, but he couldn't possibly like the guy as more that friends.

Putting his head down on the desk, he closed his eyes and tried to block on these thoughts that were taking over his brain.

"Chad." He hear someone whisper. He didn't respond, but the voice didn't give up, "Psh. Chad." When Chad again didn't respond, the person tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" He said to the person directly behind him, a little too loud, but thankfully the teacher was too involved in her lecture to notice his outburst.

"Wow, what's got your panties all in a bunch? I was just gonna ask if you were okay because you look a little stressed about, but clearly you are not okay. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Taylor. I'm fine, I just need help with this stuff, I don't get it. Are you free after school?"

"Sure. I have an Academic Decathlon review session, but it should be over by the time your basketball practice is over."

"Okay, we can study at my house, but like always since I'm in lack of a car, you have to drive."

"Sounds good." Taylor said before returning her attention to the lecture.

That was a nice break from the plaguing thoughts of Ryan Evan's, but when Taylor is no longer conversing with him, his mind drifts right back to the blonde boy.

As soon as the bell rings, Chad jumps out of his chair and practically runs from the classroom, eager for the day to be over with. He was in such a rush to get out of the classroom, he ran straight into someone walking in front of the door, scattering the papers the other person was holding.

"Shit, I'm so sorry." Chad apologized.

Ryan was beyond frusturated, and was about to give the guy a piece of his mind until he turned and his eyes landed on Chad who was not looking anywhere near him, instead focusing on picking up the papers he had knocked from Ryan's hands. Ryan smirks at this and replies, "Don't worry about it. No harm, no foul." Ryan bent over to help pick up the papers when he noticed Chad's weird behavior. "Are you okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Chad asked flustered.

"You're acting very strangely. You haven't looked at me since you practically tackled me, and I'm pretty sure you're hands are shaking." Again Ryan smirks. "Do I make you nervous?"

Chad dropped all the papers that he had picked up but still refused to look at Ryan. "What? No. That's ridiculous. Why would you make me nervous? I'm fine. I gotta go." Forgetting his task of picking up the papers, Chad flees from the scene, leaving Ryan to just stare after him.

It was confirmed. Ryan did indeed make Chad nervous, but he would never ever admit it. He fould Ryan appealing.

Shit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas. **

**Here's Chapter 3, let me know what you think! **

Studying with Taylor later that night, proved to be less helpful than the actual class. He really was trying to pay attention but he wasn't succeeding. He was mentally cursing Ryan for taking over his mind. Sure Ryan made him nervous, but that doesn't mean that he likes the blonde boy, with stellar eyes, and it sure didn't mean he wanted to push him up against the lockers and kiss him until he passed out.

_Why, oh why, did that mental image just have to pop into his head._

"Chad are you paying attention?" Taylor asked a little irritated.

"No." Not even trying to deny it.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He didn't answer. He wasn't okay, and he knew it. He was having mental thoughts of make out sessions with Ryan.

Taylor was his friend, she was be supportive. She might laugh at him, but she wouldn't turn against him, would she? So very slowing he asked, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Chad swallowed hard. "I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just gonna come out and say it." Taylor was looking at thim with anticipation. "I think I might be... I can't believe I'm gonna say this,"

Taylor reached over and layed a comforting hand on Chad's arm, "Say what? I'm here for you, you can tell me. You think you might be..." she encouraged.

"Gay. I think I might be gay." The words rushed from his mouth.

"Oh."

"That's all you have to say is oh?" Taylor gave him one nod and nothing else. "I just told you one of my darkest secrets, something this big, that's literally tearing me apart and all you give me is oh?"

"Well when you're ex-boyfriend tells you he might be gay and he hasn't dated any other girl since the two of you broke up, that doesn't do bode well for self-confidence. Oh my god, I turned you gay!" Her eyes were wide, and she looked freaked. He wasn't sure if it was because she thought that she turned him gay, or if the whole gay thing freaked her out.

"No, no, no. You didn't turn me gay. Shit, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I'm still attracted to girls, I definitely still think you're hot, but I might also be attracted to guys."

"You're serious aren't you?" Chad just nods. "And this isn't because I scared you away from the female population?" Chad wanted to laugh, but knew that she was actually really serious about the question, so he just shakes his head no. "Well you deserve to be happy and if guys make you happy, then I'm happy for you."

"Thanks Taylor, that means a lot."

"If you don't mind me asking, what brought on these sudden feelings? I'm assuming they are realtively new or else you wouldn't have asked me out."

Chad closed his eyes in fear of the question, that was just thrown at him. "Ryan Evans," he whispered so quietely, he was sure that she hadn't even heard him. He was wrong.

Now is when she chose to laugh at him. "You have a crush on Ryan Evans?"

"I didn't say that, but I don't know. Today he made eye contact with me and it stirred these feelings and I don't know what they are or what to do with them."

"Maybe you should talk to him about them," she suggested as if it was the simplest thing ever.

Chad just looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Are you crazy? I can't tell anyone about this, and you have to promise to do the same."

"Why are you embarrassed of being gay?"

"No, I just need to figure out my feelings first. And for the record I didn't say I was for sure gay, I said maybe. Maybe I'm just going through some sort of temporary insanity and don't like Ryan and I'm not attacted to guys at all."

Taylor smiled at Chad's denile. "Why did you pick me to talk about this with?"

"Besides Troy, you're my best friend. I don't know how Troy would react and I trust you."

Taylor's smile widened. "Okay well I gotta get going." She started collecting her stuff that was scattered all over the place. "Good luck with you're crush on Ryan," she said as she headed for the door.

"Shut up." Chad threw at her as she shut the door behind her, laughing.

The next day, Chad was at his locker. He felt someone come up and stand right next him. Looking around his locker door, he found Ryan Evans smiling at him.

"Feeling better today?" Ryan questioned.

"Yeah I'm fine, I was fine yesterday, I'm fine." Why was he stuterring?

"You already said that."

"That's because I'm fine."

"I would have to agree." Chad froze. Ryan's double meaning was not lost on Chad. Was he hitting on him? He felt as if he couldn't breathe and didn't dare try. "I like your shirt. Green is definitely a good color for you." He smirked at Chad and walked away without giving the darker boy a chance to respond, not that Chad could.

What just happened? Why did Chad have butterflies in his stomach? Ryan was clearly flirting with him, but why? As far as Ryan knew, Chad was straight. Maybe he had a radar or something, knew that Chad was potentially gay.

Yup, he definitely had a crush on Ryan.

He needed fo find Taylor.

Chad eventually found Taylor in the Science Lab. Unfortunately she wasn't alone. Working right next to her, was her best friend Gabriella Montez. He could tell they were busy, but his situation was way more important.

"Taylor I need to talk to you."

"Nice to see you too Chad." Gabriella said smiling.

"Hi Gabriella," he obliged, barely looking at her before turning back to Taylor. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm kind of in the middle of this right now, can it wait?"

"No, it's important. It's about Ry..." he quickly caught himself. "It's about what we talked about last night."

Taylor gave him a knowing look, "Okay. Gabriella, I'll be right back, I promise." She grabbed Chad's arm and pulled him into the storage room of the lab and shut the door behind them. "You having boy problems already?"

"Don't mock me." Chad took a deep breath, "I like Ryan."

"I thought we established this yesterday."

"No, yesterday I said I maybe liked Ryan. Now I'm saying I definitely do and he was flirting with me! He said that green looks good on me, and that I was fine."

"He flat out told you that?" She asked skeptically.

"Well first he asked me if I was okay, and I told him I was fine. Then he said that he agrees! That's when he said green is my color."

"Well green does look good with you skin tone and you are pretty hot," she couldn't help joke with him.

"Would you stop it? This is serious. I need your help. What do I do?"

"Tell Ryan you like him"

"I told you I can't do that."

"Why? You said you had to figure out your feelings and by the sound of it, it sounds like you did."

"I've never had these feelings or thoughts about another guy before. I can't walk up the most flamboyant guy in school with his amazing eyes, red lips, adorable hats..." Chad drifted off, again thinking of pushing Ryan up against the lockers, kissing him, and never letting him go.

"Uhh... Chad?" Taylor waved a hand in front of his face.

"Stupid... I meant stupid hats. Anyway, I can't do it. I can't tell him how I feel."

"I think you should. It's adorable that you get all crushed out on his hats." Taylor said laughing.

Without saying anything, Chad throws the door open, and storms out of the storage room. "You're best friend is a jerk," he said to Gabriella as he conutinued his way out of the classroom.

Taylor came out of the storage room still laughing. "What's wrong with him?"

Taylor just shook her head, "Nothing, he'll be fine."

"He seemed pretty upset."

"He's just being a baby, he'll get over it eventually."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Happy New Year's everyone! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical, or the characters associated with it... damn. **

During free period, Chad felt the need to work off some of his tension. Instead of just shooting around in the gym like he normally would, he decided to run some laps around the track. The track was relatively deserted. There were only two other people down there and they were both sitting in the middle of the football field, in the center of the track, stretching.

The only bad thing about running by himself, was he had time to think. He had time to think about his situation with Ryan, and what he was supposed to do about it. Ryan had clearly flirted with him earlier that day, but what did that mean? Was he just messing with Chad's head, or did he really like him? Chad couldn't help but smile at the latter.

As he rounded the track, something in the bleachers of the stadium caught his eye. Something with bright colors and a matching hat. He looked up again, and there sat Ryan Evans, watching him. Ryan Evans was watching him run around the track. Still looking at Ryan, Chad ran right into one of the hurdles that were set up for track practice later on in the day, and fell face first onto the ground.

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Ryan sat on the bleachers watching Chad run in circles. Damn he looked hot. He didn't know why he was attracted to Chad Danforth the way he was. He was hardly the type of boy he normally associated himself with and he definitely wasn't inexperienced when it came to boys. The darker boy had hair like a mop, he was an athlete, and he liked girls. That didn't mean that Chad didn't like boys, but figured he was straddling the fence.

Staring down at Chad, he noticed that Chad seemed to be thinking really hard about something. He didn't seem that focused on running, he looked distracted but determined. Ryan wished that he was the one that Chad was focusing on. He really did want to get to know Chad better. Sure they hung out over the summer, but they didn't really talk about personal stuff. They talked about their plans for the rest of the summer and activities going on at Lava Springs. They didn't talk about the deep stuff, and Chad's sexuality definitely wasn't a covered topic. Ryan liked the fact that they could have a true conversation. He didn't have that with anyone else, not even Sharpay. She just told him what to do and snapped at him.

All of a sudden, he saw Chad look up to see him sitting the bleachers, watching him, making him look like a creep. The next thing he knew, Chad was tripping over some bar, and fall down. Why there was multiple of these bars all over the track was beyond him. Seeing Chad eat shit, Ryan ran down from the bleachers to help him up. "Damn Chad, are you okay?"

Chad groaned. He was in pain. "Yeah, I think I'm fi-" Before he could again tell the blond boy that he was fine, and have him agree, Chad stopped himself. "I'm okay."

"No you aren't, you're bleeding." Ryan said touching Chad's eyebrow trying to wipe away some of the blood from the deep cut.

Chad winced at the contract, and pulled away. "I'll survive."

"Man, you might need stitches. Let me take you to the nurse."

"I'm fine. Damn it, I mean... ugh." Chad grunted.

"You weren't even looking where you were running." Ryan pointed out.

"Yeah, I... umm... yeah."

"Why are you running by yourself? Doesn't your team usually workout together during free period?"

"Yeah, I don't know where they are actually. I just needed to clear my head."

"Did it work?"

"Not really." _Even before you showed up_, Chad wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut. He could now feel the blood dripping down the side of his face. He tried to use his shirt to help stop the bleeding, but it continued to rush down his face.

"You're really bleeding badly. Please go see the nurse, even if you won't let me take you there."

Chad ignored him, but walked towards the nurse anyway. He never really told Ryan that he couldn't go with him, so Ryan walked right next to him with the intention of doing so until Chad told him to get lost.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Chad questioned.

"Watching you run."

Chad turned his head to find Ryan already looking at him. He was serious, this much Chad could tell. "Why?"

"Why not?" was all that Ryan answered. Chad wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he chose not to say anything. "Does that bother you?"

"What you watching me run?" Ryan nodded. "I don't know. It doesn't bother me as much as it freaks me out, I guess."

"Why does it freak you out?"

"Maybe because I have no idea why you were watching me run. You were just sitting in the bleachers staring at me, while I ran in circles. That's a little creepy."

Ryan just smiled at Chad, and said nothing more as they reached the nurses office.

Chad explained to the nurse what had happened, as she asked all of the routine questions, about feeling dizzy or light headed, making sure he didn't have a concussion. All the while, Ryan sat right there, never leaving Chad's side. Twenty minutes and four stitches later, the pair left the nurses office and headed towards their next class. A class which they just so happened to have together.

"Thanks for coming with me." Chad said shyly.

"Anytime." Ryan smiled. They entered the classroom, giving the teacher their late pass from the nurse and took their seats.

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"What the hell happened to your face?" Troy questioned while shooting hoops at basketball practice today.

"You don't want to know." Chad answered. "I've had a hell of a day, and I just want it to be over."

"Dude you have four stitches, and bruises all around your eyebrow. That looks like it hurts."

"Believe me when I tell you it does."

"What happened?" Troy asked again.

Chad sighed. He knew Troy wouldn't let it go until he told him. "I was running laps during free period today, and I ran into a hurdle. My face broke my fall." He decided to leave out the part of Ryan watching him.

Troy started laughing. "How does that happen? Did you not see the hurdle?"

"I guess not." Troy started laughing harder. "Dude, stop laughing, it freaking hurts. It's not funny."

"I'm sorry, but you've gotta admit, it's a little funny."

"I don't have to admit shit."

Troy again chuckled at his best friend. He threw an arm around his best friend's shoulders, "Come on, I'll take you home."

The two boys walked towards Troy's car until they heard a voice call out from behind them. "Troy! Chad!" Turning around they saw Ryan Evans running to catch up with them.

As Chad kept his mouth shut, Troy politely answered, "What's up Ryan?"

"Not much. Sharpay left me stranded, so I'm trying to decide what would be worse, taking the bus, or walking home."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'll take you home." At this Chad physically blanched, and stared wide-eyed at his best friend.

"Are you sure it won't be a problem?"

"Of course it's not a problem. Get in." Troy said as he mentioned toward the truck.

Ryan jumped in the back seat, but before Troy had a chance to climb in Chad grabbed his arm, "What the hell, Troy?"

"What?" Troy looked at him confused.

Chad just rolled his eyes and made his way around to the other side of the car and got in the front seat.

The car ride was filled with awkward conversation, mostly between Troy and Ryan. Chad never opened his mouth except when asked the occasional question. When they pulled up to his house, Ryan expressed his appreciation, and jumped out of the car.

As soon as the car door shut and Ryan was safely in his house, Chad turned to Troy. "What the fuck?"

Again, Troy looked at him confused. "Excuse me?"

"Why the hell did you offer to bring Ryan home?"

"Because he was going to walk home, I wouldn't make him do that."

"Of course you wouldn't."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You always have to be the good guy don't you. Offering Ryan Evans a ride home, trying to do the right thing. God Troy, sometimes you can be so dense."

"Why are you getting so uptight about this?" Chad's answer was cut off by Troy's cell phone. "Hold that thought. Hello?"

The person on the other line answered, "Hey Troy, its Taylor."

"Sorry Taylor, I can't talk right now. Chad is yelling at me."

"Why is Chad yelling at you?"

"Something about being a good guy and doing the right thing."

"How is that grounds for yelling at you?"

Chad leaned over and grabbed the phone out of Troy's hand leaving Taylor's question unanswered. "Taylor. Guess what Troy did." He gave her no time to respond. "He offered Ryan a ride home. Some best friend he is." Taylor's response included nothing else but laughter. Chad ignored her. "I mean come on. He didn't even ask me. What the hell?" Chad was now yelling into the phone, he was beyond mad.

"Chad, you do know that Troy has no idea about your feelings for Ryan right?" Chad said nothing. "You probably sound insane right now, going on and on about how big of a deal it is that Troy offered Ryan a ride home."

"I hate you." Chad said as he hung up the phone on Taylor and handed the phone back to Troy.

"So, are you going to tell me why you're freaking out about this?" Troy's cell phone again cut Chad off. "Hello?"

"It's Taylor again. Apparently Chad hung up on me."

"Yeah I don't know what's wrong with him right now."

"He's going through some stuff, that's actually why I called you. I can't go into details, especially since he's sitting right next to you, but I think you should make the effort to talk to him. Really listen to what he has to say, because he needs his best friend right now."

"Will do Taylor, thanks."

"Anytime. See you tomorrow."

Troy ended the conversation, and turned back to his best friend. "So?"

"So, what?"

"Why are you acting so weird right now? I thought you and Ryan were friends, I didn't know that you'd have a problem with me offering him a ride home."

"It's not that, we are friends, it's just-" Chad trailed off unsure of what to say.

"It's just..." Troy tried to get him to continue, as they pulled up in front of Chad's house.

"Come inside. This could take awhile." Chad jumped out of the truck, and Troy followed the slightly insane boy into the house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapters. You guys are wonderful. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HSM or the characters associated with either movie. **

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Chad and Troy said a quick hello to Chad's mother, as they passed the kitchen and headed towards Chad's room shutting the door behind them. He was nervous. He was more nervous then when he told Taylor. Troy had been his best friend, his confidante, his _brother_, since preschool. If Troy had a problem with Chad's sexuality, Chad didn't know what he would do. He would be lost in life without Troy right beside him.

_Oh god I think I'm gonna pass out_, Chad thought.

"So what's going on?" Troy jumped right into it. Troy was sitting on Chad's bed, looking up at him. Chad stood in front of him, pacing back and forth. For awhile, Chad said nothing. How do you start something like this? His heart was racing, and he was positive Troy could see him literally sweating. "Chad?"

"So here's the thing. I don't have a problem with Ryan Evans, its quiet the opposite actually."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning, Ryan and I are friends, but..."

"But..." Troy was now more confused then ever.

"But I kind of like him." Chad mumbled, still pacing the floor. He was burning holes in the carpet with his eyes. There was no way he could look Troy in the eye right now.

"Isn't that kind of the point? I wouldn't think you would be friends with someone you didn't like."

Chad grabbed his face with his hands, and rubbed his temple. "No, you don't get it." Why couldn't Troy just understand? Why was he going to make him come out and say it... literally. He just wanted to grab Troy's shoulders and shake some common sense to him. Troy didn't respond, and just waited for Chad to continue. "Okay, ummm... I kinda have... I mean... Ryan is... I'm..."

"Come on Chad just tell me."

"I have a crush on Ryan." This time he looked up, to gage Troy's reaction. To his surprise, Troy didn't have much of one. He just sat there staring at Chad, as if he was trying to tell if he was telling the truth or not. "Troy please say something. You're starting to freak me out."

Troy hesitated before asking, "If you have a crush on Ryan, does that mean that you're gay?"

"I guess. I mean I'm still attracted to girls, but I don't know. I can't really explain it, mostly because I haven't fully wrapped my head around it yet, but I guess it does." Troy just nodded. "So, are you okay with this or do you want to hit me or something?"

Troy cracked a smile. He knew that it took a lot for Chad to confide in him about something this big. He was also touched that Chad trusted him enough to share his secret with him. "Chad, we've been best friends since I can remember. I know I can be selfish sometimes, but you've always been there for me, and I've done my best to be there for you. I wouldn't change our past for the world." Chad was pretty sure that this was where the but came in. _I know we've been best friends forever, and I appreciate all you've done for me, _**_but_**_ you're into guys and I can't be your friend anymore._ "Nothing you could ever say or do would change that. I admire your courage, and your strength. We're brothers man, you aren't going to get rid of me this easily."

Chad smiled, "So you're okay with this

Troy returned the gesture, "Of course I'm okay with this."

Chad pulled Troy up from his seat on the bed and into a hug. He needed Troy to know how much he appreciated what he just said. He needed to hug his best friend. "Thank you, Troy. It means a lot."

"You're welcome man." The two pulled away. Troy clapped his hand on the darker boy's shoulder. "So, Ryan Evans huh?"

"Shut up," Chad said pushing Troy away from him, causing him to stumble slightly. "You are not allowed to torture me with this."

"Oh come on. Torturing you is the best part. You have a crush on Ryan Evans, how can I not give you some flack for that?"

"So what? You used to have a crush on Sharpay."

"What the hell are you talking about? I never had a crush on Sharpay."

"Yes you did. You thought she was the prettiest girl in school before Gabriella showed up."

"So? That doesn't mean I had a crush on her."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself man." Chad said laughing. He was relieved that the two could banter back and forth. Their relationship hadn't been affected at all, and for that, Chad was thankful.

"So does Ryan know about your burning desire for him?"

Chad raised his eyebrows at his best friend, "What did you just say?"

"Just answer the question."

"Hell no. I can't tell him something like that."

"Who does know?"

"Just you and Taylor, and I would appreciate if you would keep it that way. I don't want people knowing right now."

"Sure man. You can trust me."

"I know I can. Thanks Troy."

"Anytime. Plus I already figured Taylor knew because you were acting deranged in the car, but she didn't seem that phased by it."

"Yeah I had a lapse of judgment when I told her. She's done nothing but try to encourage me to tell Ryan how I feel."

"And how did you think my response was going to be any different?"

"Troy..."

"What? I think you should tell him."

"Not you too."

"Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to say?"

"How about, 'Hey Ryan, I like you, and I think you're hot. Maybe we could hang out sometime, or make out.'"

"Is that how you won over Gabriella?"

"You know it." Troy replied jokingly.

"Okay, this conversation is over. Let's go see what my mom is making for dinner. What to stay?"

"Sure, why not? It's probably better then what my mom is making."

The two boys made their way to the kitchen. Their friendship was still in tact, and they were still as close as brothers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here you guys go. Read and Review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or the characters associated with it.**

"Chad, I've been looking everywhere for you." Ryan came running down the hallway towards Chad, where he was currently sitting by himself at a table in the cafeteria.

"Looking for me? Why would you be looking for me?" Chad again was nervous. Why did Ryan always make him nervous? He felt like he couldn't breathe around the boy.

"Because I wanted to ask you want you're doing on Saturday."

"Saturday? Umm… I don't know. Why do you ask?" As he sputtered out his words, he looked anxiously around the cafeteria to see who was watching. He was unsurprised to find Sharpay standing at the top of the balcony, looking down upon them, watching their every move.

"Because I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

His eyes snapped back to Ryan. "Hang out? You want to hang out with me? On Saturday?"

"Are you going to question everything I say, or are you going to give me an answer?" Ryan smiled playfully at Chad.

"Why do you want to hang out on Saturday_?" Another question. God, Chad, what the hell is wrong with you? Did you suddenly forget how to make sentences that aren't in the form of __a question? _Chad mentally berated himself.

"Because we haven't really hung out since school started and I thought it would be fun."

"Oh." Chad's brain was on overload. What did he do? Hang out with Ryan? It was only a dream come true! "I can't. I'm sorry." _What the fuck?_ Why did he just do that? He inwardly cringed. Why didn't he say tell Ryan that he would love to hang out with him? _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

"It's no big deal if you don't want to. It was just an idea."

"No, it's not that. It's just that I'm busy." Again he looked up, to find Sharpay still staring at them.

"I thought you said you didn't know what you were doing."

Shit. "Yeah, I forgot I promised Troy that we would hang out."

"No sweat. I'll see you later Chad." He stood up, just as Troy, Gabriella, and Taylor were approaching their table. "Hi guys. Bye guys." He said as he passed and walked up the stairs towards Sharpay.

Chad put his head down on the table, and silently cussed himself out. He was the dumbest person on the face of this planet. He didn't know why he told Ryan he couldn't hang out. For normal people, when their crush asks them to hang out, they jump at the chance, but not Chad. Oh no, he had to torment himself. He was definitely losing his mind.

As the three newcomers sat down, Troy and Taylor looked at him in eagerness, wanting Chad to explain the encounter. Chad just stared at Ryan's retreating figure. Finally Troy asked, "What was that all about?"

"He asked me to hang out on Saturday." Chad answered with mild indifference.

"Are you serious? What did you say?" Taylor sounded a little too giddy for Chad's liking.

"I said I was hanging out with Troy."

"We don't have plans for Saturday."

"We do now," Chad said matter-of-factly.

"Why did you tell him that?" Taylor asked accusingly.

"I panicked. I didn't know what to say."

"You are so stupid." Taylor was always the first one to call him out.

"Why is it a big deal if you hang out with Ryan?" All three looked over at Gabriella. They totally forgot she was sitting there listening to their conversation. When no one volunteered to answer her question, she asked, "Hello? Anyone going to explain this to me? I thought you like Ryan," directing her questions to Chad.

Troy choked on the water that he was currently sipping, at Gabriella's comment. Gabriella patted his back, momentarily forgetting about Chad and Ryan to make sure her boyfriend was okay.

"That's the problem." Chad spoke up.

Gabriella turned away form Troy and back to Chad. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is, I do like Ryan."

"I'm confused. Why wouldn't you hang out with him?" Chad realized that Gabriella was just like Troy. She didn't get it, and she was going to make him say it. Only this time, he wasn't as nervous as when he told Troy and Taylor. He liked Gabriella, he knew he could trust her.

"I'm gay, Gabriella. And I _like_ Ryan."

"Oh. Well, in that case, you are stupid. He asked you to hang out. That's your in."

Chad threw his face in his hands and groaned. "I know, I know. I don't know why I said no. I guess I'm just not ready for this."

Taylor decided to speak up again. "I think you are. You're just scared."

"Of course I'm scared," Chad agreed. "I'm scared shitless. I'm not sure if I can handle it right now."

"But..." Gabriella tried to protest, but Chad cut her off.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

As soon As Ryan reached the top of the stairs, he could feel Sharpay's eyes on him. He sat down, and tried to ignore her. After a few moments, he could still sense her watching him. "What do you want Sharpay?"

"You actually like him." Ryan's response was an eye roll. "No you really do. It was one thing when we were playing the game and you rated him so high, but you actually want him."

"So what if I do? Is that a problem?"

"Yes! Look at him. He's a jock, he has disgustingly big curly hair, and he dresses like he just rolled out of bed. You could do some much better than Chad Danforth."

"Whatever." Ryan said trying to go back to ignoring her. She was seriously frustrating him.

"How do you know he's not straight?"

"Trust me, he isn't," Ryan was beyond annoyed by now.

"How do you know?"

"Because I can tell."

"He just turned you down didn't he?" Ryan shot a surprised look at Sharpay. He hadn't told her he was going to ask Chad to hang out. "I couldn't hear you, but by the look on both of your faces, I assume he didn't take you up on your offer to go on a date."

"Who said I asked him on a date?" Sharpay looked at Ryan in disbelief. "I didn't! I just asked him to hang out."

"And he said..."

"He's busy."

"Of course he is." Ryan said nothing. "I can help you if you want."

"Help me do what Sharpay?" Ryan snapped.

"Convince Chad of his gayness. And his love for you."

"Oh my god." At this point Ryan was ready to push his sister off the balcony. "Just leave it alone."

"I'm serious. This will be fun."

""No, it won't. And for the record, he doesn't need help convincing himself of his 'gayness', as you put it. He already knows."

"You sure?"

"Yes." Ryan said confidently. "I think he even likes me, but he's just intimidated."

"So, let me help you unintimidate him."

Ryan knew that he wouldn't get Sharpay to let up. If he denied her, there was no telling what she would do to Chad. He knew that Chad didn't deserve to be terrorized by Sharpay, so he gave in. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"

Sharpay smiled wickedly


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks for your reviews. Here's the next chapter._

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own HSM or the characters associated with it.**

Ryan waited outside the gym for basketball practice to be over. Sure he could have gone inside, but he didn't know the rules about outsiders watching practice, so he opted for the safe option. Pretty soon the boys came stumbling out of the double doors, freshly showered. Zeke and Jason were the first people Ryan spotted; there was no sign of Troy or Chad.

"Hey Ryan," Zeke said a little too enthusiastically. Ryan knew he was trying to be nice to him to get an in with Sharpay. "Can you give these cookies to Sharpay for me?"

_Poor Zeke, so naive_. "Sure, no problem." Truth was, the cookies weren't for Sharpay. Sharpay had asked Zeke to make them, and let him believe that the cookies were for her. In reality, they were for Chad.

"Thanks man. I've got to go. Tell Sharpay I said hi." Zeke and Jason both walked away, as more players filed out of the gym. Right when Ryan was beginning to think that Chad was never going to come out, Chad and Troy exited the doors, laughing. It was at this moment that Ryan could tell how close they really were. They were laughing as only best friends could.

When they finally caught sight of Ryan, the both stopped laughing, as well as walking. Since it was clear to Troy that Chad wasn't going to say anything to the blonde boy, he decided to speak up. "Ryan. What's up man?"

"Not much. Just picking up these cookies that Zeke made for Sharpay."

There was an awkward pause in their conversation. Chad still said nothing. "Well I've got to go find my dad. He wanted to talk to me." Troy tried to make his get away, but Chad grabbed his arm.

"Do not leave me alone." Chad spoke in a hushed tone so Ryan couldn't hear him.

"You're a big boy you'll be fine." He turned back to Ryan. "See you later Ryan."

As Troy ran off down the hall, Ryan asked, "You want a cookie? They are the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever had in your life."

"Um... sure." Chad took a cookie from the bag Ryan held out to him. He took a bite, and the cookie literally melted in his mouth. "Wow these are really good."

"That's why I'm thinking of keeping them for myself instead of giving them to Sharpay," he lied. "You have some chocolate on your mouth."

Without giving Chad a chance to react, he stepped closer, definitely closer then he needed to be, and used his thumb to wipe the corner of Chad's mouth.

Chad froze. Ryan just touched his lips, well almost his lips. He wished that Ryan had used his mouth to wipe away the chocolate instead of his finger. When the mental images of the two of them kissing entered Chad's mind, the only word he could think of to describe himself was pathetic.

"I got it." Ryan announced, bringing Chad back to reality.

"Uh... thanks." _Was that all he could come up with?_

"I've got to go. I hope Sharpay didn't leave me again." He took a step back, but before he could get too far away he whispered, "By the way, you smell really good." He smirked at Chad and took off.

Chad said nothing. He just watched Ryan saunter down the hall, as if he was king of the world. _What the hell just happened? _Chad felt like he couldn't breathe. _Was that a dream?_ The ability to comprehend was gone. _I need to find Troy. _

Chad walked into the boy's locker room, and saw Chad through the window sitting in Coach Bolton's office. Coach Bolton was doing some work on his computer while Troy was sitting in an adjacent chair, messing around on his phone. No doubt texting Gabriella. Chad burst through doors while both Bolton's looked up at the intruder. They could tell that he was not happy. "Can I talk to you please?" Chad directed at Troy, through gritted teeth. 

"Actually I'm talking to my dad." He was trying to protect himself. Troy knew Chad was going to kill him for leaving him alone with Ryan.

"No, we aren't. You've been sitting there on your phone for the last fifteen minutes. You boys can go. Good practice today."

"But dad, didn't you say you had something you needed to talk to me about?" Troy hoped his dad would get the hint. He did not want to deal with the wrath of Chad.

"No, not that I recall."

Troy tried to protest again, "But-"

Chad grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him out of the chair, "Come on. Bye Coach Bolton." He pulled Troy out the door. "Have you completely lost your mind? Why did you leave me alone?" Chad exploded.

"So you could talk to your boyfriend in private," Troy tried to lighten the mood, but seeing Chad's face it was too early for jokes.

Chad was definitely less than amused, "Stop it. This isn't funny. I told you I can't handle it right now."

"But you like him."

Chad blinked a couple of times before answering, "What's your point?"

"That you like him. What happened anyway?"

Chad's eyes widened as he answer, "He gave me a cookie!"

"No! How horrible!" Troy answered sarcastically.

Chad glared at his best friend. He was not in the mood for this. "He gave me a cookie, then invaded my personal space by wiping chocolate off my mouth with his thumb, and told me I smelled good."

"Wow, this boy has it bad for you. He is putting serious moves on you." Chad stared and said nothing. "Let me ask you this. What would you do if Ryan was a girl?" Again, Chad stared, but this time as if Troy had lost his mind. "If you liked a girl as much as you like Ryan, you wouldn't be freaking out. So what would you do to pursue this girl?"

"Well I would flirt with the girl for awhile first, so she would know I was interested. Then I would charm her Danforth style, then ask them out on a date."

"Why not do that with Ryan?"

"Now you have gone mad. He is Ryan Evans. He's talented, smart, well semi-smart, funny, good looking, and a _boy_. I don't know how to flirt with a boy. I just freeze whenever he gets within ten feet of me. I feel nervous when ever he talks to me. I don't know what to do."

"Sounds to me like you really like him."

Chad nodded. "I do."

Troy threw his arm over his best friend's shoulders, and started to pull them down the hall and away from the school. "Let's go home." He paused before adding, "You do smell good."

"Shut up." Chad pushed Troy away from him, and glared at him. He was thankful that Troy was his best friend and he supported him so much. He was glad they could joke about this situation and Troy wasn't freaked out about it.

As the boys walked towards Troy's car, they never noticed the lone figure in the shadows of the hall. The mysterious person was "unintentionally" eavesdropping on their conversation, and smiled at the information that was unknowingly revealed to him.

Walking into the door of his house, he was bombarded with questions from Sharpay.

"Slow down Shar. You're talking 50 miles an hour, I didn't understand anything you just said. Thanks for leaving me at school... again. I had to take the disgusting public bus home."

Sharpay ignored his comment. "What happened?" She asked simply.

"It worked better then planned. Zeke's cookies were perfect."

Sharpay squealed, "I'm so excited. Okay next, we need to-"

"No. There is no next. I'm taking over. I don't need help."

"What are you talking about? We just started. You need some way to suck Chad in."

"That is not a problem. He's already hooked."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"You sure?" Why did Sharpay always doubt him?

"I overheard Chad telling Troy he likes me."

"That's perfect. Now is when you have to make a grand gesture and who knows better about grand anything then me."

"Sharpay I don't want to scare him."

She looked as if she was going to protest but she didn't. "Fine, you know where to find me if you change your mind."

**_READ AND REVIEW! Thanks. _**


	8. Chapter 8

"Word on the street is that you like me."

Chad, who was struggling to open his locker at the exact moment Ryan decided to announce this statement, yanked the handle of his locker in surprise and ended up hitting himself in the face with the door. "What are you stalking me now?" "Maybe. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Realizing exactly what Ryan said he questioned,"What did you just say." _Please_ _tell me I heard him wrong, or I might faint._

"I know you heard what I said, but I'll oblige. I said, word on the street is that you like me."

Chad gulped. So he hadn't heard Ryan wrong. He felt himself starting to sweat. "What street would this be?"

"Can't say. Is it true?" He was now looking Chad directly in the eyes, waiting for him to try and deny it.

Chad took the easy way out and ignored the question. "Where did you hear that?"

Ryan could tell that Chad was starting to freak out. He saw him resisting the urge to run the other way and never look back. Ryan didn't want to freak Chad out or anger him, so he told him the truth. "I heard you telling Troy."

Chad eyes widened in realization, "You heard that?"

"Yup."

"Everything?"

"Everything." Ryan confirmed.

Chad no longer tried to resist the urge. "I've got to go." Forgetting the books he needed from his locker, he turned to run down the hallway.

Ryan grabbed his arm before he could get too far. He immediately felt Chad tense so he let go as he spoke. "Okay look, I like you too, that much is obvious. If you don't want to pursue anything I'm okay with that. I don't want to push you. If you want to hang out or something, just casually, to get to know each other better, I'm on board for that too." Chad opened his mouth to say something but Ryan cut him off. "Just think about it, okay? Take your time and let me know."

Once again he was left standing in the middle of the hallway, watching Ryan walk down the hall. Thankfully no one seemed to notice the strange conversation that took place between the two boys. Did he really want to hang out with Ryan, _to get to know him better_? He wanted to talk to Troy or Taylor about this, but he knew that they would just pressure him into hanging out with him. He had to decide for himself if he was ready for this. What did he really want to do? Was he ready to come out? To his parents? His friends? The world?

Maybe the best way to decide if he was ready was to talk to Ryan about it.

Ryan wasn't sure where to find Ryan. Ryan just always seemed to appear where Chad was, which wasn't as creepy as it sounded. When Chad spotted Sharpay staring at herself in her locker mirror, he realized that he didn't have any other choice.

"Hey Sharpay." Sharpay glanced over her shoulder, but didn't little to acknowledge Chad. "Um... do you know where Ryan is?"

"What do you want with Ryan?"

"I need to talk to him about something."

"What?"

"Just something."

"Which is?" Chad knew that Sharpay wasn't going to make this easy on him.

"Look, do you know where he is or not?"

"Yes."

Chad waited for her to continue but when she said nothing he gritted his teeth. "Where?"

"Oh you want me to tell you?"

If it was okay for a guy to hit a girl, he definitely would have slugged Sharpay. "Please."

"Theater," she threw out, walking away. She then yelled over her shoulder, "Good luck telling my brother you want him."

Chad nervously looked around the crowded hallway. Luckily it seemed as if no one had heard what Sharpay had yelled. Chan knew that she had fun messing with him, but he was starting to get tired of it.

Chad hesitantly made his way into the theater. Immediately he could hear music playing. It wasn't show tunes or anything that Chad would have expected. It was some sort of hip hop remix song, Chad actually enjoyed it.

Next he noticed Ryan in the middle of the stage, dancing by himself, moving freely to the beat. He looked really intense and focused. He was so focused that he didn't see Chad enter so Chad decided to take a seat in one of the middle rows, not wanting to disturb him. Chad's mind was on overload and for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off the blonde boy. Ryan looked hot, sweating up on stage, moving around provocatively. Chad was sure it wasn't supposed to come off like that, but Chad was definitely somewhat turned on.

When the song ended, Ryan still hadn't realized the company he had. He walked over to the boom box to turn it off when the sound of clapping filled his ears. He looked up to see Chad Danforth sitting in the middle of the theater clapping his approval.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"Awhile," was all Chad supplied.

"You just watching me?"

"You watched me run."

"I wasn't complaining." Ryan smirked. Chad was beginning to notice he did that a lot. Ryan hopped down from the stage, and sat down in the seat right next to Ryan. "What are you really doing here?"

"Sharpay told me where I could find you."

"You were looking for me?"

"I was."

"Why?"

"Why do I feel like we've had this conversation before, only the roles were reversed?"

"Because we have. So are you going to tell me why you were looking for me?"

"I was thinking about what you said..."

"And what do you think?"

Chad took a nervous breath. Ryan could tell that he was struggling with exactly what he wanted to say, so said patiently waiting for Chad to work it out.

"You have to know," Chad started, "I'm not ready to come out to the world. Troy, Taylor, Gabriella, and apparently Sharpay know, but I've never told anyone else that I'm gay, and I'm not ready to. If you were serious about just hanging out, I can work with that." As Ryan started to smile, Chad quickly added, "but, there won't be any PDA. We can hang out in public or whatever, but nothing else. No hand holding, nothing. I'm not ready for that, and I don't know when I will be. If that's what you are looking for, then this-" motioning between the two of them, "can't happen."

Ryan just stared before asking, "Are you finished?" Chad nodded. "Okay then, Saturday night, my house, six o'clock, be there."

Once again, Ryan could tell that Chad was nervous. This was a big step for both of them, but Chad seemed a little more nervous to be taking it. "What are we going to do?"

"We are going to hang out. My parents are out of town so we can just hang out and do whatever we want."

"Okay," Chad smiled.

"Okay," Ryan smiled back. "So now who's stalking who? Resorting to asking my sister where I am..."

"It's still you stalking me. I've only showed up one place where you've been."

"But you just sat there watching me dance. That's stalker status."

"I wouldn't talk about stalker status if I were you," Chad joked.

"Hey, I had to do something. You avoided me for weeks. Whenever I got within ten feet of you, you would act all twitch and start ignoring me."

Chad looked down at the ground. "You make me nervous."

Ryan waited until Chad looked up from the ground and he looked directly into his eyes. "Why?"

"I've never felt this way about a guy before, or anyone really. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to react."

Ryan leaned over across the armrest that was currently dividing the two boys. "Do I still make you nervous?" He whispered.

Chad only nodded as he stared into the bright blue eyes. He eyes really were gorgeous, they sucked him in. At that exact moment, Chad wanted nothing more then for Ryan to lean the rest of the way and kiss him. Chad would have if he had the guts to do it himself, but since he didn't, he wished Ryan would.

"You have pretty eyes," Chad said, surprisingly both of them. Chad started to blush. He couldn't believe he just let those words pop out of his mouth.

Ryan just chuckled and backed away so he was no longer hovering of Chad. "Why thank you."

Chad squeaked out a you're welcome. "I've got to go. I have basketball practice in a few minutes."

"Okay. See you Saturday."

Chad nodded. He was already half way to the door when he heard Ryan call out to him. "Oh and please don't stand me up."

Chad turned around but made no movement to walk back towards Ryan. "Why would I do that?"

Ryan shrugged. "Just in case you aren't ready for this, or it's too fast, just tell me. Don't just not show up."

This was the first time that Chad had seen Ryan look vulnerable. He always looked so sure of himself, so confident. It was one of the reasons why Chad found him attractive. "I'll be there, promise."

They smiled at each other before Chad made the rest of his way out of the theater.

_**READ AND REVIEW. Thanks.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Thanks for the reviews. You guys are wonderful. **_

"Sharpay you need to leave." Ryan was running around, trying to clean the house for his... date? Whatever it was, with Chad. He wasn't sure what to call it, so he was going to say date, though he would never mention that word to Chad.

"Excuse me?" Sharpay was having a relaxing night just watching TV, before her stupid twin brother came in and demanded she get out of her own house. Who did he think he was?

"Get out... of the house. Please."

"Why?"

Ryan was still straightening the cushions on the couch, and picking up trash from where Sharpay had left it. " Chad is coming over. I told him mom and dad were out of town and we could hang out alone. I thought you would be out like are on most Saturday nights. You have to leave."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I'm not leaving. You guys can hang out, I won't bother you. Why would I want to hang out with my brother and his boyfriend anyway?"

"Okay first of all he isn't my boyfriend, and please don't say that around Chad. Second of all, you have to leave. Please. Chad is really nervous, I know it took a lot for him to admit it to himself that he wants to actually hang out with me. He won't feel comfortable if you're here, picking apart his every move. I'm begging you here."

"I said I won't bother you." Ryan just looked at her doubtfully. Sharpay sighed, "Where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't care. Just get out. Now."

Sharpay picked up her phone and waited for an answer on the other end. "Zeke, it's your lucky day. We're going to a movie... Right now... I'm coming to pick you up, you better be ready when I get there." Sharpay slammed her phone shut and looked at Ryan as if to say, _you happy? _

Ryan ran up to Sharpay and threw his arms around her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Whatever, you owe me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you want." Ryan said as he started to push Sharpay towards the door. "Bye, see you later. Don't come home early." He shut the front door, took a deep breath then realized what he was wearing. He still needed to pick out an outfit for his... date? What was he supposed to wear? He didn't know what was appropriate for this occasion. The only person who did, he just kicked out of the house.

Ryan threw the door open and yelled, "Sharpay!" But it was unnecessary. Sharpay was leaning against the side of the house, looking at her watch.

"I knew you would need me for that. Took less time then I thought it would for you to realize it." With that, they both walked back into the house and up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang. Ryan was dressed, the house was clean, dinner was made. The only problem was, Sharpay was still in the house.

"I'll get it." Sharpay started to make her way down the stairs.

"No!" Ryan grabbed her arm. "I'll get it. You go out the back door."

"Yeah right. I'm not walking out the back door. You're lucky I'm leaving the house at all." Sharpay yanked her arm from Ryan's grasp, and ran down the stairs. Ryan was hot on her heels.

"Well look who it is..." Sharpay announced as she opened the door.

Ryan had to admit, Chad looked really good. Instead of his normal goofy t-shirt, he was wearing a black collared shirt with a pair of dark jeans. His hair was still a big, curly, poofy mass, but Ryan wanted nothing more then to run his fingers through it.

"Uh... Hi, Ryan... Sharpay," Chad was clearly thrown off by the presence of the female twin.

"Come on in." Ryan said, ushering Chad in the house while trying to usher Sharpay out. "Sharpay, don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Well actually..."

"Bye Sharpay." He once again pushed Sharpay out of the house and shut the door.

"Hey." Ryan said as he smiled at Chad.

"Hi." Chad smiled back.

"So you going to stand in the entry way the whole night, or do you want to come further into the house?" Ryan laughed and without waiting for a response he took off into the depths of his home, leaving Chad no choice but to follow.

"Dude you're house is huge."

"Yeah my family is big believers in anything gaudy and flashy. Clothes, car, house, everything."

"It's amazing." Chad took in all of the features of the house. The mansion could fit his whole house in just the living room.

"Thanks, I'll give you the grand tour after dinner." Ryan led the way into the kitchen.

The kitchen fit the house perfectly. It was huge and beautiful.

"Something smells good." Chad commented. "Did you cook?"

"I did. We have a cook that cooks most of our meals, but I decided to make dinner for this special occasion."

"Should I be worried?"

"I'll have you know, I'm a wonderful cook. I made my famous chicken alfredo. I made the sauce from scratch."

"Let's taste this before I decide if I'm impressed or not."

"You're going to be sorry Danforth."

They boys sat down at the long table. They sat directly across from each other so they could actually talk while they ate. The table was already decorated with nice plates, and silverware, and of course the food. Ryan reached for Chad's plate and scooped a couple of spoonfuls of his pasta on the plate before dishing his own. "You take a bite first."

"Why so you know if I die, that you're food isn't edible?"

"No, because you're the guest and I want you to try it first so I can rub it in your face that you doubted my cooking abilities." Ryan locked eyes with Chad and smirked. He knew his chicken alfredo was fantastic, and he was ready to make Chad feel badly for doubting him. "Come on Chad, we don't have all day. Just take a bite so you can admit how wrong you were to doubt me."

Chad maintained eye contact with Ryan as he brought his fork to his mouth and took a bite. Ryan was right, this was the best chicken alfredo he had ever tasted. Not that he was going to admit that to Ryan... at least not right away. "It's okay, not bad."

Ryan's mouth dropped. "Not bad? That's all I get? Not bad?"

"I like it, but I wouldn't call it world class or anything."

"You better be lying to me Danforth."

"What are you going to do if I'm not?" This time it was Chad smirking. He was actually flirting with Ryan, and he was enjoying it. The more he hung out with this boy the more he likes him.

"Starve you of your dinner. You don't appreciate it, you don't deserve to eat it."

"Well then lucky for me, your chicken alfredo is very delicious. The best I've ever tasted."

"I can't believe you just did that to me. You almost had me doubting myself. So you're impressed right?"

"Very." They boys smiled at each other across the table.

The rest of dinner was filled with light conversation, and tons of flirting. Both boys found themselves having a lot more fun then they expected. Chad thought it was going to be uncomfortable, full of awkward pauses. Ryan thought that Chad would feel uncomfortable and not enjoy himself. They proved themselves wrong.

When they were done eating, they left the mess for Ryan's maid to clean up and as promised, gave Chad a tour of his house. He started with the downstairs: the living room, the den, the 5 car garage, his dad's study, and the mini library. He then should him the backyard with their swimming pool with a slide, a hot tub, and the swing set that was left over from when Sharpay and Ryan were kids. Next was the upstairs: his parents' master bedroom, Sharpay's room, Ryan's room, another study, two guest rooms, and his favorite room in the whole house, the entertainment room.

"Wow this room is amazing."

"Thanks. I spend most of my time in here."

"I can see why."

The entertainment room had two big screen televisions, one for watching TV, the other for video games. An air hockey table and a pinball machine sat in two corners of the room. There were two couches sitting in front of the TV and two love sac's, sitting in front of them on the ground.

"These bean bags are awesome. I used to have some of these when I was little, but they weren't this big."

"They aren't bean bags, they're called love sac's."

"They look like oversized bean bags to me." Chad joked.

"Well I guess they kind of are but they are way more comfortable. Sit in one." Ryan put his hand on Chad's shoulder and lightly pushed Chad until he fell backwards into the love sac.

"Wow these are comfortable."

"So what do you want to do? Watch a movie, play video games, sit in the love sac's and do nothing..." Ryan trailed off, leaving the open ended question for Chad to answer.

"I don't care. Let's just hang out and relax. A movie sounds perfect."

"A movie it is, which leads to the next question. What do you want to watch?"

"You pick."

"You sure about that? I could pick some sort of musical, that you wouldn't enjoy in the slightest."

"I'll trust your judgment." Chad again smirked at Ryan and made solid eye contact. Ryan liked when he did that. It showed he wasn't as threatened at the fact of the two of them being together as he used to be. Ryan couldn't pull away, and he didn't really want to.

Ryan slowly walked towards Chad, his eyes still boring into Chad's. When he got closer to Chad, he tripped over the video game controllers sitting in the middle of the floor, and ended up landing right on top of Chad, their faces inches apart. Ironic, no?

"Uh... sorry." Ryan pathetically apologized but made no move to remove himself from sitting on Chad. Truth was, he wasn't complaining about the position they were currently in. He wanted to kiss Chad until he passed out, but he didn't want to scare him. Chad still seemed to be slightly on edge about the whole situation.

Chad didn't say anything. He just stared into Ryan's eyes that he had once admitted out loud were pretty. He hoped Ryan was going to kiss him. He was close enough to. All Ryan had to do was lean down about 5 inches, and their mouths would be connected, in what Chad knew would be a smoldering hot kiss. Chad's hands lay on Ryan's waste, holding him down, even though it was obvious to Chad, Ryan wasn't going to move anytime soon.

" Chad?" Ryan's voice brought Chad out of the staring contest he was having with the blonde boy himself.

"Kiss me." Chad whispered the two words so quietly that he was sure Ryan hadn't heard him.

Ryan didn't move or say anything for a few seconds. He had in fact heard what Chad had said but he was trying to figure out if he actually heard him correctly or if it was wishful thinking. When he realized that his mind wasn't playing a trick on him, Chad had in fact whispered the two wonderful words, Ryan answered, "If you want me to kiss you, you're going to have to make the first move. I've made all the other first moves, and now it's your turn. I can tell you though, you should make the first move, because if you kiss me first, I am definitely going to kiss you back. And, you should do it right now."

Chad wasn't sure what to think of Ryan's response. So Chad chose not to think and just react. He leaned up the short distant to Ryan's mouth, and slanted his mouth over the boy who still resided on top of him. As promised, it didn't take long for Ryan to reciprocate, and within seconds he pried Chad's mouth open and immediately used his tongue to seek out Chad's. The kiss was innocent for less than a second, before it turned into a full on make out session.

Ryan's hands traveled upwards, and like he's always wanted, he ran his fingers through the mass that Chad called his hair. Chad placed his hands on the back of Ryan's head to pull him even closer, and if at all possible, deepen the kiss. Their legs tangled up with each other as Ryan squirmed on top of Chad, causing a feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was a foreign feeling, but he enjoyed it.

Air finally became an issue, so Chad was the first to pull away. "Wow."

Ryan chuckled slightly. "You aren't going to freak out now are you?"

Chad moved his eyes upward to again make eye contact with Ryan. "No. I think I'm passed the freaking out stage." As Ryan smiled at this, Chad couldn't help but smile back.

Ryan leaned down, and gave Chad a peck on the lips. As he started to pull away, Chad's hands again grabbed the back of Ryan's head and pulled him downward into a proper kiss. The kiss was again deepened as mouths, tongues, and hands battled to see who could get closer to the other one.

Their make out session could have lasted hours, or minutes. They lost track of time, and before they knew it, they were interrupted but a shrill coming from the doorway.

"My eyes... make it stop... make it stop!"

Ryan immediately jumped off of Chad and stood up. He did his best to fix his wrinkled shirt, but he knew it wasn't going to look the way it use to before Chad got his hands on it... literally.

Chad on the other hand made no move to get up. He was afraid too. Ryan had jumped off of him and now there was enough distance between the two of them, so Chad didn't bother to stand up. His legs felt like jello, and he was pretty sure he would fall on his face if he attempted to stand.

"Sharpay!" Came Ryan's angry voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, duh! Are you guys done sucking face? Can I open my eyes?" Sharpay still had her back to the door, with her hand over her eyes.

"Yes, now get out." Chad could tell Ryan was not happy.

"No. You kicked me out earlier, now I'm back and I'm not leaving again." _Ryan kicked Sharpay out? Thank God she wasn't here the whole night. _

"I thought you were going to the movies with Zeke."

"I did. Now I'm back."

"You haven't been gone long enough to see a whole movie."

"You have no clue what time it is do you?" Sharpay asked smugly.

Ryan reached down and grabbed Chad's wrist to see what time it was. "It's 9:30? Where the hell did the last three hours go?"

"You wasted your time making out with this... jock." Sharpay had many other names she wanted to call Chad, but she held back and went the name that was least likely to piss both Chad and her brother off.

Ryan just rolled his eyes. "Well we were just about to watch a movie so if you could…" he motioned to the door, gesturing for her to leave. He walked over to their movie collection, picked up the first movie he could find and put it in. Chances were they weren't going to watch much of the movie.

"I'd love to stay and watch a movie with you, thanks for asking." Sharpay walked the rest of the way into the room and sat down on the vacant love sac.

"Shar…"

"Well it's getting pretty late, I better be going." Chad finally said. He hadn't said anything since Sharpay walked in.

"It's only 9:30. Don't go." Ryan pleaded.

Chad made a move to stand up, "Yeah I have stuff to do tomorrow and..."

Ryan wouldn't let him finish. "You're not leaving." He put his hand on Chad's shoulder and this time more forcefully pushed Chad back into the love sac. "Sit down, we're watching a movie."

Chad again made the attempt to leave. He didn't feel comfortable with Sharpay here. He didn't know what it was about her, but she made him uncomfortable. "But I really should…"

He was again cut off. "You're not leaving." Ryan demanded as he sat down on Chad's lap so he couldn't stand up. He pushed play on the remote control to start the movie.

Chad no longer tried to protest. He knew that Ryan wasn't going to let him leave. He might as well try to ignore Sharpay and enjoy the movie with Ryan sitting on his lap.

"The Breakfast Club! I love this movie!" Sharpay's voice filled the room.

"Why did I have to put this movie in?" Ryan asked to no one in particular.

Half way through the movie, Chad realized Ryan was asleep. He had his head on Chad's shoulder and his arms around Chad's waist, still sitting completely on top of him. Chad's legs were starting to fall asleep from being in that position for so long, but he didn't want to move Ryan.

"So you and my brother, huh?"

_Damn it. Why did Ryan have to be asleep?_ When he was unconscious he couldn't stop Sharpay's grueling questions and evil stares.

"Uh… yeah."

"Do you like him?"

What kind of question was that? "Yes, Sharpay. That's pretty much the point of why I'm here."

"Are you guys dating? Or just making out? Are you boyfriend and boyfriend?"

Chad rolled his eyes. He didn't want to answer that question, mostly because he wasn't sure what to say.

"You suddenly forget how to talk?" Chad could still fill the evil girl's eyes on him.

"No."

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

"Why not? I'm just curious."

"Then talk to your brother about it."

"Fine, but all I have to say is… you hurt him, I'll kill you."

Chad turned his head to look at Sharpay. He could tell that she was serious. She might be bossy and downright mean to everyone around her, but at that moment, it was clear to Chad that she deeply cared about her brother.

Chad just nodded his understanding. Sharpay nodded back.

Then something came out of Sharpay's mouth that Chad thought he would never hear, "So we are going to have to hang out sometime."

Chad looked astonished, "Hang out? Why? What did I do to you?"

Sharpay glared. "Watch it Danforth. You are dating my brother, so we need to get to know each other better."

"But I don't like you."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual. But Ryan would want to see us get along." As Chad was about to protest, Sharpay added, "We're hanging out, you don't have a choice."

Chad just rolled his eyes. He decided it was best to oblige with the crazy blonde. "When is this suck fest going to take place?"

Ignoring the way Chad worded the question, Sharpay answered, "Tomorrow."

"Excuse me? Why so soon?"

"Because I said so. We're going shopping."

"Hell no! I'm not parading around the mall with you, carrying the fifty bags that you're bound to buy. I don't think so. It's just not going to happen."

"Yes, it is. I'll pick you up. Be ready by 11."

"No." Chad simply denied.

"You're coming."

Chad knew he was again defeated by the evil twin. He really, really didn't want to hang out with Sharpay. As much as he didn't want to admit it, however, she was right. Ryan would be happy that the two of them were trying to get along, even though the two of them weren't technically dating.

The movie was finally over. The last half of the movie was barely watched seeing as how Ryan was sleeping and Sharpay was forcing Chad into hanging out with her. As the credits rolled, Chad spoke up, "Now I really do need to go home. I need some sleep if you are going to be dragging me all over the mall tomorrow."

"Good boy," was all Sharpay replied.

Since it appeared Sharpay wasn't going to be of any help trying to get Ryan off of him, he started to gently shake him awake. "Ryan," he whispered in his ear. "Ryan, hey wake up." Ryan didn't budge.

"He sleeps like the dead." Sharpay always had to comment.

"Obviously." He started to shake him a little harder. "Ryan." This time he said his name louder. "Ryan!"

Ryan finally started to stir, turning his head to look up at Chad. "Hey." He leaned up to give Chad a peck on the mouth.

"Could you not do that while I'm sitting right here?"

Ryan looked startled for a quick second at Sharpay's outburst, then a look of annoyance crossed his face. "I forgot you were here. I wish you weren't."

"Yeah, well the movie is over, I've got to go. Plus my legs have been asleep for the last hour."

"Why didn't you just push me off of you?"

"I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh my god, I think I'm going to throw up at your attempt to be cute."

"Shut up Sharpay, you can leave now." Ryan threw at his sister as both boys stood up.

"I'm not leaving, Chad is. Bye Chad, see you tomorrow." Chad grimaced.

"Tomorrow? What's tomorrow?"

"Don't worry about it Ryan."

Ryan raised his eyebrows at Chad, silently questioning him. Chad ignored the look, grabbed Ryan's arm and started to pull him out of the room. "Walk me out."

When they reached Chad's car, Chad said, "So I had fun tonight."

"Me too, I'm glad you came."

"Me too," Chad agreed.

"You still want to hang out or whatever?" Ryan seemed kind of nervous asking the question.

"Of course."

"Good. So what did Sharpay mean about seeing you tomorrow?"

Chad blew out a breath of annoyance. "She's making me hang out with her tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"She thinks it will make you happy since we're 'dating'." Ryan was immediately shocked by what Chad said, especially since Chad said it with such ease. "Her words not mine." Chad added, at Ryan's lack of response.

"I should have known. Look you don't have to do this. I know you guys don't get along, and the last thing you want to do is hang out with her."

"Well she is pretty set on this. She pretty much threatened me if I don't go. I doubt you can change her mind."

"I can try."

"Don't worry about it. I think I'll survive one day of shopping with your sister."

"Shopping? She's taking you shopping? Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Why not? How bad can it be?"

"You've obviously never been shopping with her."

"Whatever, it's not something I would particularly choose to do, but if we are going to be spending more time together, I might as well learn how to get along with Sharpay as much as possible."

Ryan threw his arms around Chad's shoulders to hug him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The boys pulled away and smiled at each other. "Maybe I can talk Sharpay into letting me come too. That way we can all hang out and get to know each other."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Okay, maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

"I hope so." Chad leaned in, and Ryan met him halfway for a goodbye kiss. It lasted for a few seconds before they pulled away, said their goodbyes, and Chad got in his car and drove away.

Ryan walked back into his house and back into the room that Sharpay still occupied. "You're taking Chad shopping?"

"I am."

"Why?"

"I'm sure he already told you, but to get to know him better." Somehow, Ryan believed the genuine look on her face.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you aren't." She saw Ryan about to protest so she cut him off. "Sorry, but you're not coming. We need some quality one-on-one time. We need time so I can tell him embarrassing stories about you."

Ryan sighed defeated. "Fine, but please go easy on him. I really like him."

"Ryan, you're talking to me here."

"I know, that's what my point is. Don't hurt him."

"Funny... that's what I said to him when we were talking about you." Without giving him a chance to respond, she walked out of the room, leaving Ryan with his thoughts. He threw himself backwards into a love sac. Please let Chad survive this.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it took so long to update, I've been really busy. But no fear, Chapter 10 is here. I just want to thank all of you who reviewed the last chaper and the previous chapters. They are wonderful, as are you guys. I'm going to put another author's note at the bottom of the chapter, because I want to explain something, but not give anything away. Okay carry on. **

The shopping trip was starting off horrible, just like Chad assumed it would. Ryan wasn't in the car she got to his house, Sharpay yelled at him for not being ready when she picked him up, she made him listen to show tunes in the pink convertible, and the first store they went to was, of course, the women's shoe store.

"Oh my god Sharpay. This is the tenth pair of shoes you've tried on. Hurry up."

"You can't rush trying on shoes Chad."

"Just pick which pair you're going to buy so we can get out of here."

"It's a very hard decision to make, there is all sorts of factors to consider, which would you know if you had any sense of style."

"Look I thought this was supposed to be time for us to bond. How is trying on dozens of shoes helping us bond?"

"It isn't, but aren't these adorable?"

"Yeah they're freaking precious. Can we go?"

"Yeah just let me buy these." She made her purchase and the two worked out of the store.

Just as they walked out, Chad's phone rang. Seeing the caller ID was Troy, he answered, "What's up man?"

"Not much," Troy responded. "Where were you last night man, I was trying to get a hold of you?"

Chad hesitated. Was he ready to tell Troy? "Hanging out with Ryan." Guess he was.

"Liar."

"I'm being serious." He was still following Sharpay down the corridor of the mall.

"Wow, that's huge. How did it go, and why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind."

"Yeah right," Troy disagreed. "So really, how'd it go?"

"Fine, I'll tell you about it later." He really didn't want to get into with Sharpay standing 3 feet away.

"Well, what are you doing right now? Want to go shoot some hoops or something? Gabriella ditched me to go shopping with your ex-girlfriend."

"Shopping?" Chad asked nervously. "Did they say where?"

"The mall I think, who cares? So basketball?"

Chad was looking around anxiously, seeing if he could spot the girls. He really didn't want to run into them right now. He was shopping with Sharpay for crying out loud, he would never hear the end of it. "Um… I can't." Sharpay was starting to pick up on Chad's twitchy behavior and gave him a curious look.

"Why not? Where are you?"

"The mall… with Sharpay." As much as he wanted to, he couldn't lie. Sharpay would come up with this crazy idea that he was embarrassed of being with Ryan or something, when in actuality, he was embarrassed of being seen with her.

"You are not. Tell me what you're really doing."

"You're in a doubting mood today. I'm not lying, even though I really wish I was."

"You would never go to the mall, especially not with Sharpay."

"Here, talk to her." He handed the phone to Sharpay. "He wants to talk to you."

"Well, Troy Bolton. What are you up to?" Sharpay's sultry voice rang through the phone.

"Sharpay?" Troy stuttered.

"That is my name."

"Why are you and Chad at the mall… together?"

"We're bff's. Haven't you heard? You and Mckessie have been replaced by the fabulousness that is me."

Chad grabbed the phone back, "She's lying, we aren't even friends let alone best friends. She forced me to hang out because she thinks Ryan will be happy that we're attempting to get along. It's not looking good though." He threw an annoyed glance at Sharpay.

This time, Sharpay grabbed the phone. "A guy's sister and boyfriend should get along, hence the hanging out."

Chad tensed when she referenced him as Ryan's boyfriend. "Sharpay, give me the phone."

He attempted to grab it out of Sharpay's hands, but she held on tight. "It's very rude to grab the phone when someone is talking, Chad."

"Give it back. You aren't talking to Troy anymore." At this point they were starting to attract attention from shoppers nearby.

"Let go or I'll castrate you."

"I'd like to see you try," Chad was not backing down. He finally was able to rip the phone of out her hands. "Troy, you still there?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two people he didn't want to run into… Gabriella and Taylor, and they were approaching the pair.

"Well, look who it is," Sharpay said as Gabriella and Taylor made their way over.

"Please kill me," Chad muttered, "Troy?" He questioned again.

"So boyfriend, huh?" Came Troy's voice.

"No don't listen to her." Chad tried to protest.

"You sure have a lot of explaining to do. Call me when you are done with your boyfriend's sister." Troy started to laugh.

"Shut up." Chad snapped his phone shut, hanging up on his best friend.

"What are you guys doing here… together?" Gabriella spent far too much time with Troy.

"Chad and I are hanging out…"

"Sharpay, shut up." He turned to the other two girls, "Don't listen to her."

"Because that's what best friends do."

"Best friends, huh?" Taylor questioned.

"Stop telling people that!" Chad said angrily.

"Why are you guys really shopping together?" Gabriella asked once again.

"Yeah, Chad you hate shopping," Taylor pointed out.

"I…" Chad started to explain, but Sharpay cut him off.

"It's none of your business. Leave us alone." Chad knew that Sharpay could have outted him about Ryan, but as far as she knew she and Troy were the only ones who knew about him and Ryan. He found that he was actually grateful that she didn't throw him under the bus. Ryan was right, she could be nice when she wanted to. He didn't need to hide from Taylor and Gabriella though, they already knew half the story.

"Sharpay, its fine. They know." He turned to Taylor and Gabriella, "Ryan and I hung out last night and…"

"Oh my gosh, are you serious?" Taylor practically screamed.

"Yeah, so Sharpay said…"

"Wow that's so exciting!" Gabriella piped in. "What did you guys do?"

"We hung out at his…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Taylor questioned, as she slugged Chad in the arm.

"I'm trying to tell you right now but you two keep interrupting me." When the two of them kept their mouth shut, he started to continue, "Okay, so we…"

"Here's the gist," this time it was Sharpay. "They hung out at our house, ate food, watched television, I walked in on them making out…"

"Sharpay!" Chad exclaimed.

She went on talking as if he hadn't interrupted her. "Then we all watched a movie. So I suggested that me and Chad should get to know each other since he's dating my brother."

Taylor's eyes widened. "You guys are actually dating now and you still never told me!"

"Well she," he said glaring at Sharpay, "keeps telling people we're dating, but we've only hung out once and we haven't really talked about it."

"Whatever," Sharpay inputs, "the point is, we're hanging out, so you two should get lost."

"Fine, but you are calling me when you're done." She said to Chad.

"I'll add you to the list." Chad stated simply.

"Bye guys see you both later," Gabriella commented.

Sharpay grabbed Chad's arm and pulled him out of the store

Once they were outside though, Chad stopped walking, forcing Sharpay to stop as well. "I just wanted to say thanks for not saying anything about me and Ryan. I mean, you didn't know that they knew and you could have easily told them the real reason why we are here but you didn't. I appreciate that."

Sharpay started at him like he was crazy. Was Chad actually being nice to her? "Sure. Whatever."

After that, their day went much better. Sharpay ended up buying what looked like the whole mall, and Chad bought a couple of cd's, and they ended up really bonding. They didn't mind spending time with each other, not that they would admit that to other people.

A couple of hours later, they walked into the Evan's mansion laughing. "You know Evans, this turned out not to be so bad." Chad flopped down onto the comfy couch in the game room.

"Agreed," Sharpay smiled. "We should go shopping together more often."

"As long as you don't spend two hours trying on shoes again." They both laughed again. "Where's Ryan?"

"Probably in the yoga studio. He does that when he's stressed, and he was definitely a basket case when I left this morning. He's probably worrying whether you're still alive."

"Well, maybe we should go tell him we survived."

"Never, and I mean never, interrupt him while he's doing yoga. As his boyfriend, you should learn that now. He will be "out of sync with the earth" or whatever it is he calls it, for the rest of the day. You don't want to deal with that."

At that moment, the topic of discussion, walked into the room. "Hey you two are back. Alive and no bloodshed." Ryan visibly relaxed. "How did it go?"

"Great, Chad is a wonderful shopping buddy."

He turned towards Chad, confused, "Okay…"

"Your boyfriend is funny too. Today he said the funniest thing…"

"My what?" Ryan choked out. Again he looked at Chad, who just shrugged.

Sharpay ignored the question. "I'm going to try on my new clothes. Later bro, bff." Sharpay grabbed her bags, and made her way out of the room.

"What did you do to her? Who is that?"

"You've know her longer." Chad said simply.

"Did you hear what she called you?" Ryan asked in exasperation.

"She's been calling me your boyfriend all day. I'm used to it now. And, apparently, she thinks that me and her are best friends."

"So, you're okay with that?" Ryan sat down next to him on the couch, "I can tell her to stop. I know we just started hanging out, we don't have to rush things."

"What if I don't mind being called that? The title has kind of grown on me."

"Seriously? You want to be known as my boyfriend?"

"Well, I'm not ready for everyone to find out, that hasn't changed, but I don't mind if Sharpay knows. I'll have to tell Troy, Taylor, and Gabriella too because Troy called while we were at the mall, and we ran into Taylor and Gabriella. They were all mad I didn't tell them we hung out last night. If I don't tell them we're actually dating, they will murder me."

"That's what we're doing now, dating?"

Chad started to look a little nervous. "Well if that's what you want. I'm saying I'm just open to the idea, but if you don't want…"

Ryan cut him off with a kiss. "I would love to be semi-secretly dating you."

Chad smiled. "Good." He leaned into to kiss him again. He pushed Ryan back onto the couch to intensify their make out session.

"Do you guys ever not make out? I can't leave you alone."

"Yes, you can, and you should. Bye Sharpay." Ryan said, still lying under Chad, trying to coax her out of the room.

"Actually, I've got to go." Chad said as he sat up, and crawled off of Ryan. "Troy and Taylor will be calling me soon to get all the juicy gossip." He rolled his eyes, "Freaking vultures..."

"Bye Chad." Sharpay said, sitting down in the love sac. "See you at school."

"Later Sharpay." Chad responded. He popped a kiss on Ryan's mouth. "I'll call you later."

"You better." Ryan said, and leaned in for another quick kiss. Chad said his final goodbyes and walked out the door, to face his hounding friends.

Chad walked into his room and jumped at the sight of Troy, Taylor, and Gabriella sitting on his bed. "Damn you guys scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting to hear about your make-out session with Ryan."

Chad rolled his eyes.

"Come on, man. We're all curious." Troy prodded.

"What happened?" Taylor asked.

"Okay, this is kind of a long story, but..."

"We've got all day." Taylor said.

"Fine as you know Ryan was stalking me at school, tell me I smelled good, and how 'fine' I was, but then he overheard me talking to you," he said pointing at Troy, "about how much I liked him. So he approached me the next day, telling me he heard everything, that he like me too, but he was okay with taking things slow. So I told him that I wasn't ready to come out to the world, but we could hang out. I went to his house last night, we ate dinner, he gave me the tour of his house and then we were going to watch a movie when..."

"When he jumped you?" Troy said.

"Shut up if you want me to continue. Technically, I kissed him first, but yeah, then Sharpay walked in..."

"Woo hoo!" Troy cat called, earning him a slap from both Gabriella and Taylor.

"If you ruin this story of the rest of us, I'll kill you," Gabriella threatened.

"So we ended up all watching a movie, Ryan fell asleep. Sharpay demanded that we hang out. It started off horribly, as you all saw, but it turned out to be all right. We went back to their house, and Sharpay kept calling me Ryan's boyfriend all day, so when she said it in front of Ryan, he was shocked. He asked me if I had a problem with it, and I told him I kind of like the title, so in the matter of a day, we've gone from hanging out to dating."

Taylor stood up off the bed, "Oh my god, you guys are actually dating now?"

Chad nodded smiling.

Gabriella was the first to get up and give him a hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks Gabriella."

Taylor hugged him next. "Usually when you brake up and your ex-boyfriend starts dating someone else, you're crushed, but I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Tay, that means a lot."

Troy approached him last. "I can't believe Sharpay caught you two making out." Chad attacked his best friend at the sarcastic comment. The girls watched as the boys playfully fought, trying their best not to break anything. When the fight ended, Troy said, "Really though, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks man."

"Don't you think it's a little fast thought?" Troy asked. "Like I said, I really am happy for you, but I don't want you to rush things. I want you to be happy and comfortable in your realtionship with Ryan. I don't want you to get hurt."

"No matter what Sharpay says, you're my best friend Troy." Chad moved in and hugged Troy tight. Troy had a look of confusion on his face when Chad pulled way a second later. "Thank you concern. I appreciate it more than you know. I know you always have my back and maybe it is a little soon to start this thing with Ryan, but I think I'm ready. I think he's ready too, and if it gets to be too much then we'll deal with it then, but right now I'm happier than I have been in awhile."

Troy smiled, "That's all I needed to hear."

**A/N: Okay, so in some of your reviews you said that you didn't want Chad and Ryan to be together right away because it was moving too quickly. I tried to write a couple more chapters in between where they were just hanging out and getting to know each other, but the story wasn't flowing as I wanted it to. I pretty much have a set timeline on my story and those chapters weren't fitting in at all. So I wanted to say thank you for your input, it is always greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think of this chapter! **


	11. Chapter 11

Almost four months later, and the couple was still going strong. The first month or so was tough for both of them. Chad was still trying to get used to the idea of having a boyfriend and Ryan was dealing with the fact that for the first time in his life he had a boyfriend who wasn't openly affectionate. They also had to find time in their busy schedules to hang out with each other. One of both of them were always running around doing something. Chad picked up a job, realizing that he depended on the income from the Lava Springs job, but now that that job was no longer available, he took a job working at a local restaurant, using his waiter experience from the summer.

After about two months, when their relationship was finally in a stable place, Chad finally came out to his dad. His mother had left them, before Chad even started kindergarten, so she was not a concern of Chad's. He hadn't spoken to or heard from her since she left. Chad and his dad sat down one night and Chad told him everything. Chad was nervous about telling his dad, but it turned out his dad supported him one hundred percent. As he figured, his dad wasn't sure how to react at first. In the end, however, he told Chad that he was still his son, and nothing would ever change that. He wanted to meet Ryan, and asked Chad to bring him to dinner the following night. Dinner with his dad and his boyfriend went smoother then Chad thought it would. Ryan and Chad's dad really clicked, and Mr. Danforth enjoyed having him around the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans also enjoyed having Chad around. It was easier telling Ryan's parents then it was telling Chad's, because they already knew Ryan was gay. Chad was always at the Evans's mansion, whether he was hanging out with Ryan or with Sharpay. Chad and Sharpay had grown close since their shopping experience. Ryan was thankful for that fact. It was important to him that his sister and boyfriend got along. The three of them also hung out a lot, though Sharpay felt like the third wheel at times.

One afternoon, Chad was at the mansion hanging out with Ryan. Ryan was lying on the couch with Chad laying half on top of him, his head on Ryan's chest. They lay quietly as the music that was playing was white noise in the background. They were content just being in each other's company. Ryan was lazily running his fingers through Chad's hair. Chad's eyes were closed, but he was awake, listening to the beat of Ryan's heart. Ryan was really beginning to grow on him. After four months, he couldn't picture his life without Ryan. He loved spending time with him, but he missed him terribly when they were apart.

The tranquility of the room was interrupted when Sharpay barged in, "You ready to go?"

Ryan, not sure who she was directing the question at, asked, "Go? Go where?"

"Bowing, duh." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Did you forget?"

"I was never informed."

Sharpay cut her eyes to Chad. "You didn't tell him? That was your job."

He didn't open his eyes but by the look on his face you could tell that he forgot to tell Ryan. "Oops," was all Chad said.

"So what exactly is going on? Who's going bowling? All three of us, or just you two, or what?"

"No, we're all going. Us three, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, and Kelsi," Chad spoke up.

"It was a last minute thing, but I told your forgetful boyfriend to tell you," Sharpay snapped looking at Chad.

"Sorry… hey Ryan, we're going bowling with the gang," Chad informed sarcastically.

"Thanks, Chad." Ryan said just as sarcastically. He pushed Chad off of him and stood up himself. "Let me go change real fast, and then we can go."

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the bowling alley, with the whole gang already there. Chad was glad they could all hang out and be friends even though half of them were dating and the other half had crushes on someone in their group. Ryan and Chad were dating, Troy and Gabriella were dating, Zeke followed Sharpay around like a puppy, Jason and Kelsi had an on-again off-again relationship, Chad and Taylor used to date, Sharpay used to like Troy, but none of it mattered. They were all such good friends, the drama never got in the way.

When the first game ended Chad announced he was going to get something to drink, Taylor volunteered to come with him. Chad instantly knew she was going to grill him for relationship updates, she always did. As soon Chad received his soda, Taylor asked, "So how's your relationship with Ryan going?"

"Good." Chad briefly paused, "I really like spending time with him. I like him more and more every day."

"But…" Taylor prodded.

"But nothing…"

"Come on, you can't hide anything from me." Taylor smiled.

"I hate that fact. It's just… like I said, I love hanging out with him, but we don't get a lot of chances to be alone together. I always have basketball, or work, or hanging out with you and Troy. Ryan has dance rehearsals, and drama practice. We don't have a lot of free time and when we do, we usually hang out as a group with all of us. Plus college is quickly approaching. I have no idea where he applied to, what his plans for the future are."

"You've been dating for almost four months, and you guys haven't talked about it?"

"No. He brought it up awhile ago, but I avoided it and it was never brought up again."

"It's probably a good time to do it then, since you have all these questions."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. Now let's go hang out with our friends, you can worry about all of those things later." She hooked her arm through Chad's, and led them back to their friends.


	12. Chapter 12

Ryan and Chad opted to walk home from the bowling alley instead of riding with Sharpay

Ryan and Chad opted to walk home from the bowling alley instead of riding with Sharpay. Chad's house was only a few blocks away, and they could use the quality time. They had fun hanging out with all of their friends, and goofing around, but they were enjoying their time alone.

Chad kept replaying his conversation with Taylor over and over in his head. He knew that he needed to talk about those important issues with Ryan, but he was afraid to. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out what Ryan was planning to do with his future. What if it didn't include Chad? He was happy, right now, in the moment, with Ryan. He didn't want to ruin their pleasant evening.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Chad was pulled back to reality by Ryan's question. As much as he didn't want to get into this mess, he figured now was a good a time as any. This was a talk he couldn't avoid. Instead he avoided Ryan's question, and asked a question of his own. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up?" Ryan answered turning his head to look up at the slightly taller boy.

Chad waited a moment before replying. "Where did you apply to college?"

Ryan looked at him questioningly, "What brought on that question?" Chad only shrugged in response. "Well, I applied to NYU, Rochester, UCONN, Maryland, Duke, and University of Albuquerque, only because my parents wanted me to. I really don't want to go there though."

Chad sighed and stopped walking. He knew this had been a bad idea. "We didn't apply to any of the same schools, not one." He practically whispered, not being able to look Ryan in the eye.

"Where did you apply?"

"No where even close to you." Chad still spoke softly.

"Where, Chad?"

"You applied to East Coast schools, I applied to places like UNLV, UCLA, USC, Oregon State, Arizona State... West Coast schools."

"What are you trying to say here Chad? We applied to schools on opposite ends of the country, but we can make it work. Unless that's the point... Are you trying to break up with me?" Ryan was starting to panic. He didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"What? No, but this is something we're going to have to deal with sooner or later. I just thought I would bring it to your attention. Going to school 3,000 miles away is going to suck."

"I know but..."

Chad was starting to freak out. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but something inside him panicked. "I already don't get to spend enough time with you, not seeing you for months at a time will kill me."

Ryan reached out to place his hand on Chad's arm. "Chad..." He knew Chad was freaking out, and he wanted to calm him down before he did something they were both going to regret.

"We're always too busy to hang out, and when we do hang out half the time we are with all of our friends too. I can't be away from you for that long."

"We'll figure it out." Ryan now took another step towards Chad, hoping to comfort him, but Chad backed up completely out of reach.

"No we won't!" Chad exploded as Ryan flinched at his tone of voice. "It's too late to apply to other schools now! I've already decided not to try and pursue a basketball scholarship next year. It will take up too much time, and energy I'm not sure I have, so any chances of me getting a scholarship on the East coast is out of the question."

"Chad, please calm down." Ryan pleaded.

"I can't. I'm having a panic attack, I can't control it. I've gotta go." Chad turned to walk down the street, but Ryan grabbed his arm.

"No we're going to talk about this. Long distance relationships can work."

"Maybe, but I'll always be wondering if you're hooking up with your drama people or whatever, and you'll get jealous the minute I make a new male friend. We'll end up resenting each other, and I love you too much to let that happen."

Ryan froze. Chad just told him that he loved him. They have never said those words to each other before. He didn't think that Chad even realized what he said until Chad took another step backwards, his eyes wide, and his mouth slightly open. Ryan knew that Chad was always the one to freak out about intimacy, words included, hence the start of their relationship when Chad avoided Ryan even though he had feelings for the blonde boy. Ryan could literally see the wheels turning in Chad's head, getting ready to run for it.

"I... I'm... Sorry, I've got to go." He turned around and ran down the street away from Ryan. And this time, Ryan let him.

Chad walked hastily into his room, avoiding his dad's questioning stare. He immediately dialed Taylor's number. She barely got out a hello, before he started yelling in a sarcastic tone, "Good idea Tay. Thank you very much. That is the last time I listen to you."

"What are you talking about, and why are you yelling at me?"

"I talked to Ryan about college and I ended up telling him I love him, then I ran away."

"You ran away? Why? You're supposed to be happy when you realize you're in love."

"We didn't apply to any of the same schools, no where even close. How are we supposed to make that work?"

"There's always a way," Taylor said calmly. She could just imagine Chad pacing in his room, freaking out in only a way that Chad could.

"I don't know Tay. I mean I feel empty when I'm away from him now, but 3,000 miles away? What am I supposed to do with these feelings? Ultimately one of us is going to end up heart broken."

"You don't know that."

"I don't see any way around it."

"Just relax Chad." There was a knock on the door, as Ryan poked his head in. He saw Chad was on the phone, so he walked into the room, but kept his mouth his shut. "You guys have been honest with each other from the start, you need to keep doing that." Chad made eye contact with Ryan. "Promise me you won't do anything irrational."

Remaining eye contact with Ryan, Chad responded, "I don't know if that is something I can promise."

"Chad..."

He tore his eyes, away from Ryan's, "I've gotta go, Ryan's here." Chad hung up the phone and placed it on his desk.

Ryan could tell that Chad wasn't going to make the first move to speak, so he took it upon himself. "You're dad let me in." He opted for something simple, but Chad still said nothing. "Why did you run away?" If Chad wasn't going to make it easy, Ryan was going to jump right back into their conversation.

Chad didn't want to answer the question, they both knew it. Ryan was determined not to let Chad pull away from him however, and just stared at him as he waited for him to answer.

"I don't know."

"Come on Chad. We have to talk about this," Ryan said, getting angry. "You started this whole conversation and now we're going to finish it. Now why did you run?"

"I just freaked out I guess." Ryan never raised his voice. He got annoyed or irritated, but never angry. Chad knew he must really be upset.

"Did you mean what you said?" Chad again hesitated. He settled for just nodding his head. "Well then we can figure something out for college. If we want it to work, it will."

Chad knew Ryan had a point, but the fact that he didn't say he loved him too, wasn't lost on Chad. "Do you realize how far away 3,000 miles is? I would see you what, Christmas break and summer? Maybe Thanksgiving or Spring break if I'm lucky. I'm not okay with that."

"I'm not either, but I'm willing to try."

"Do you love me?"

This time Ryan said nothing.

"I think about you all the time. When we're together, I can't stop smiling. When we're apart I crave the next minute I will get to see you. Like I said, we already get barely any time alone together and it kills me. Next year... next year's going to be ten times worse. I love you, and I can't stand the thought of being without you, but..." Chad took a deep breath, and shakily continued. "But, maybe it's fore the best."

Ryan instinctively took a step backwards. "What does that mean?"

"You didn't tell me you love me, doesn't mean you don't, but you didn't or couldn't say it out loud. You don't seem that upset about us being so far away. If you can picture your life next year and I'm not there, and that doesn't totally break your heart, then we aren't doing what I thought we were doing here." At this point, Chad's eyes got watery. He was doing everything he could to prevent the tears from falling.

Ryan stood frozen. Again, he wasn't sure where Chad was going with this, and again, he didn't like it. "I don't want to lose you."

Chad closed his eyes tightly as one stray tear streaked down his face. "It's just going to be harder four months from now."

"Don't do this Chad." Ryan moved closer to Chad. "You can't tell me you love me and break up with me in the same day." He grabbed Chad's face in his hands, forcing him to look him in the eye. "It does kill me, the thought of being away from you, but I know we can work it out." He threw his arms around Chad's neck, clinging to him for dear life. Chad slowly slipped his arms around Ryan's slim waist and held him close for a few minutes. When he pulled away he saw Ryan was now crying, but he refused to look him in the eye.

Chad put finger under Ryan's chin, and directed his eyes to meet his. "Five years from now, you are going to be some successful Broadway actor, or director, or famous dancer. Who the hell knows where I am going to end up. You need to be able to live the next four years of your life in college, and I need to do that same. We both deserve that."

Ryan pulled away hastily. "If you are going to break up with me, have the guts to tell me the truth. Don't pretend like you're doing it for my sake, because if you were you wouldn't break up with me. You're doing this to spare you're own feelings."

"Ryan, come on..."

"No," Ryan brushed away the tears from his cheek. "You want to break up, it's all on you." He started to shout, "I don't need you to protect me and my feelings. I need you to talk to me about your feelings so that we can work through them together. That's what a relationship is all about."

"Don't preach to me about the contents of a relationship, okay?" Chad yelled back. "I understand what a relationship is. But it makes it hard to talk to you, when you always have dance rehearsals, or singing lessons, or yoga practice."

"Hey, don't throw that in my face. You're just as busy as I am."

"I know, I'm just saying..."

"Well don't. I've always been here for you, that's never changed, no matter what my busy schedule says. You always have basketball, or work, and freaking Troy!"

"Hey, don't bring him into his. He's my best friend, but he has nothing to do with this."

"Whatever." After a beat, "I can't believe this is happening."

"He either," Chad whispered.

"Then don't do it," Ryan shouted desperately, as more tears welled up in his eyes.

"I have to. Don't say that four months from now it's going to be easier to walk away. That being so far away won't rip us apart anyway, and when it does it is going to hurt a lot more than it does right now."

"I can't believe you don't even want to try." Ryan sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands, trying to wish the tears away, his shoulders shaking with despair. No sooner did he sit down, did he shoot up and throw himself into Chad's arms once again. "I love you. I do. I don't want to break up but if you think it's best then I'll accept it. I'm so sorry I made you doubt how I feel, I really do love you. I was just caught off guard." A sob escaped his lips. "God, I love you." He pulled Chad tighter against his body.

Chad let Ryan pull him closer, and circled his arms around him. "I love you too."

Ryan pulled back just enough to capture Chad's lips between his own, wasting no time in deepening the kiss. Chad immediately responded, walking Ryan backwards until his legs hit the edge of the bed, buckling his knees, sending both boys onto the bed with Chad on top. Chad pulled away and instantly attached his mouth to Ryan's neck, careful not to leave any marks, but kissing forcefully.

Ryan groaned. Chad always did know how to hit the right spot. Craving Chad's mouth on his, Ryan cupped Chad's face in his hands and guided his mouth back to his own. Chad allowed Ryan to continue to kiss him for a few more minutes before he pulled back entirely and rolled over so he way no longer on top of Ryan but laying next to him on the bed. Both boys stared at the ceiling, panting out of breath.

Chad finally broke the silence, "How did you get here? Do you want me to take you home?"

"I walked here, but I'm just gonna call Sharpay." Ryan's voice was shaky.

"Please let me take you home," Chad pleaded.

"No, I don't want you to." Throughout this whole conversation about their future, Ryan had been surprised, angry, sad, and now he was back to angry. He called Sharpay, who agreed to come pick him up. "I'm going to go wait outside for her."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's freezing outside."

"I don't care. I know if I stay here, we're either going to talk more about this, which will ultimately lead to more fighting, or we are going to make out some more. Both are pointless, and both would hurt too much."

Chad knew he had a point, but he didn't want him to leave. As Ryan made his way to the door, Chad grabbed his arm, and pulled him flesh against him. He gave Ryan a desperate kiss, and whispered, "I'll miss you."

Ryan only smiled painfully, and walked out of the room.


	13. Chapter 13

"Danforth

**New chapter! I know it's short, but the next chapter is already to be posted so it will either come later tonight, or tomorrow. Let me know what you think. **

"Danforth! What the hell is wrong with you?"

_Sharpay_.

"I told you to talk to him, not break up with him. Idiot!"

_Taylor_.

Chad was sitting by himself in the cafeteria, when Sharpay and Taylor approached him, only to yell at him. News of their break-up quickly spread throughout their group, because Ryan had obviously told Sharpay, and everyone knows Sharpay couldn't keep a secret. He hadn't talked or seen Ryan since he left his room, a couple of days ago. He missed him like crazy.

"If you guys are going to yell, will you wait until next week or something, when I don't feel like I'm going to break down?"

"What are you a girl? Be a man, damn it!" Sharpay yelled.

It was Taylor's turn, "Damn, Chad! This is the kind of irrational thing I was talking about."

"What irrational thing did Chad do?" Troy and Gabriella picked this moment to walk into their conversation. Troy always wanted to know when Chad screwed up so he could make fun of him for it. Some best friend he was.

"He broke my brother's heart, that's what!"

Troy looked taken aback, and turned questioningly towards his best friend.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard yet," Chad said, then whispered. "I broke up with Ryan."

"What? Why?" Gabriella asked.

"I thought you guys were happy." Troy had to throw in.

"They were! Chad's an idiot!" Taylor criticized.

"Ok, look, I did what I thought was right. I can't rehash the whole thing right now. It hurts too much. If you want to talk about it, go find Ryan, or wait until I'm ready. Until then, leave me alone." Chad grabbed his lunch tray, and dumped his barely touched food in the trash, and walked out of the cafeteria.

The four friends stared after him in shock. Sharpay was the first to speak, "He looks just as miserable as Ryan. He didn't even come to school today."

"We have to do something," Gabriella always wanted everyone to be happy. "This isn't right, they should be together."

Taylor spoke up, "Chad told Ryan he loved him."

"How do you know?" Troy asked.

"He called me all freaked out. Guess after that, he broke up with him."

"This situation is bad."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious Troy, but there is nothing we can do. They're in love, but in pain. We have to wait and see what happens." Sharpay sat down at the abandoned table, silently praying, that her brother and friend would be okay.

The next day had gone by relatively fast. Ryan and Chad had both shown up to school, but successfully avoided each other. Ryan ate lunch in the drama room, the one place he knew Chad would never step foot in. Chad walked the long way to classes, making sure he wouldn't pass Ryan's locker on his way.

During lunch, Sharpay saw Chad sitting by himself, outside, under a tree. She walked up to him, and stood so she blocked the sun from his eyes.

"You here to kick my ass?" Chad asked sarcastically.

"No," she paused. "I came to see if you're okay... So, are you?"

"No."

"I figured as much." Sharpay sat down next to Chad. "It'll get better."

"I hope so." The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Chad spoke again, "I'm surprised you're still talking to me."

"I know I threatened to kill you if you hurt my brother and you did hurt him, but you're obviously in just as much pain. So I think I'll wait awhile on kicking your ass."

Chad turned his head to look at Sharpay, "Does this mean we're still friends?"

"Of course, you can't get rid of me that easily."

Chad smiled but Sharpay noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thanks, Shar."

Sharpay grabbed Chad's hand, and intertwined his fingers with her own. "You're welcome."

There was a pause in the conversation until Chad asked, "How's he doing?"

"You really want to know?"

"I guess not."

They continued to sit under the tree, holding hands in silence, until the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.

When the bell rang for the end of the last class, Troy approached Ryan at his locker. "Hey man."

Ryan turned away from his locker to briefly look at Troy. "Hi," he said quickly before occupying himself once again with the contents of his locker.

"How you holding up?"

"Chad send you to spy on me?" Ryan snapped, still not turning away from his locker.

"No, I just wanted to see how you were. You're my friend too."

Ryan turned to face him. "You mean that?"

"Of course I do. Just because you two broke up doesn't mean we have to stop being friends. I know we weren't close before you two went out, but I don't want us to stop hanging out."

"Thanks Troy. I'm doing okay, and I would like for us to stay friends too, but are you sure Chad won't get mad?"

"Let me take care of him. It'll be fine."

Ryan nodded. "Thanks man, for everything. And watch out for Chad for me, please."

"Will do." Troy clapped Ryan on the shoulder, "See you later Ryan."

"Bye." With that Troy took off down the hall leaving Ryan, once again, alone at his locker.


	14. Chapter 14

The last month of school flew by, and before everyone knew it, graduation day had approached

The last month of school flew by, and before everyone knew it, graduation day had approached. There was three months of summer vacation ahead of them, before the gang would have to go their separate ways... off to college. Ryan, Gabriella, and Jason were all headed to New York. Ryan was going to NYU, Gabriella was going to Syracuse University, while Jason headed to Cornell University. Troy and Taylor were also headed to the East Coast. Troy got a full ride basketball scholarship to Boston University in Massachusetts. Taylor was valedictorian of their class, and received an academic scholarship to Duke University. Zeke was going to the Art Institute of Las Vegas, for a degree in the culinary arts. Kelsi's dad got a job transfer to Texas. She didn't want to go far away from them to college, so she chose to go to Texas A&M. Chad and Sharpay were the only ones going to the same college. USC. Chad was excited to find out that Sharpay had applied there as well. When the both found they were accepted, there was no other choice but to attend USC.

The graduation ceremony was long and drawn out, just like all ceremony's before them. Taylor's speech was eloquent and thoughtful. The group of friends, all cheering as loud as they could for her. Gabriella had to wipe a tear from her eye at the end of Taylor's speech. She was always the emotional one, and she couldn't have been more proud of her best friend. Soon all the names were called, the caps were thrown into the air, and the graduates rushed around to find their parents and take pictures with their friends.

Chad said goodbye to the Bolton's, after promising Troy he would be at his house early to help him set up for the graduation party that he was throwing. He had already taken pictures with Troy and Taylor, now he hoped to find Sharpay and Ryan.

Ryan and Chad eventually put their problems aside and learned to cope with being in the same room with each other. They only did this because Sharpay demanded them too. They did everything they could to avoid each other, but Sharpay finally yelled at them, saying that they couldn't keep making their friends choose, and there was only a month left of school so they were all going to hang out whether they like it or not. Chad and Ryan weren't necessarily friends, but they could be in the same room without fighting. They never hung out just the two of them though, it was always with a group.

"Chad." Chad heard his name being called, and turned around to see Ryan walking towards him.

"Hey."

"Dude, Sharpay is looking everywhere for you. She is ready to explode. She says that we have to take some group pictures and if you missed it she is never going to speak to you again."

Chad chuckled. "That's a little extreme isn't it?"

Ryan laughed along, "You know Sharpay. Come on, we better go find her, before she does something she is going to regret." Ryan grabbed Chad's hand and started to lead him through the crowd. When he felt Chad tense in his grasp, he quickly let go but continued to walk ahead.

"There you guy's are!" Sharpay yelled as the two boys walked towards her, "We have all been waiting for you." The whole gang was standing around, waiting for Sharpay to give them directions. After what seemed like fifty pictures later, Sharpay finally let them go, with the promise to be at Troy's house by nine.

"Chad, Ryan, wait. I want to get a picture of you two."

"Sharpay, stop it." Ryan said.

"Don't be such a baby, just stand over there, and smile." Sharpay demanded.

Ryan and Chad stood next to each other, but made sure they weren't touching. "Move closer," Sharpay tried to direct them. When they barely moved, she walked over to them grabbed Chad's arm and put it around Ryan's shoulder, and took Ryan's arm and placed it at Chad's waist. "Now, smile." She quickly snapped a picture, for fear they would break apart at any moment. When the flash went off, they backed away as if they couldn't get enough space between the two of them. "What a cute picture."

"Whatever Shar, I'll meet you at the car." Ryan walked away, without looking at Chad again. Chad stood there watching Ryan's retreating figure, thinking about how weird and wonderful it was to be in Ryan's arms again.

Sharpay's voice broke through his thoughts, "You still love him don't you?"

Chad rolled his eyes. "I'll see you at the party Shar." This time he walked away, not giving Sharpay a chance to try and carry on this conversation.

By the time Ryan and Sharpay walked into Troy Bolton's house, the party was already in full swing. Troy's family members were everywhere, talking about how strange it was that Troy had already graduated high school and was on his way to college. Troy's friends littered the house as well. Some were dancing to the music in the living room, others hung around the kitchen for the food, some stood in the hallways just talking with other guests, while the rest were out back playing a pick up game in the backyard court Troy had.

Sharpay and Ryan made their way through the house, smilingly politely at the people they pass, greeting some of their acquaintances. Finally they reached the back door, and walked outside. They immediately saw practically the entire basketball team, including Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason playing a game in their nice suits and ties. Taylor, Gabriella, and Kelsi sat off to the side, cheering the boys on.

"Hey party people." Sharpay always liked to announce her presence.

"Hi Shar, Ryan." Gabriella greeted.

"Hey guys." Ryan said.

"Can you believe high school is over?" Taylor asked. "It seems like just yesterday that we were freshmen, and none of us were friends."

"I'm glad we all became friends. I know senior year would not have been as great as it was without all of you." Kelsi said.

"I agree." Sharpay said. When her friends looked at her doubtingly, she added, "Hey I can be sentimental too. I know I was a bitch the better part of high school, but I'm glad that all of us became friends. We've all had a great time together, and created memories that I'm never going to forget."

The group smiled at her.

"Aw, Shar, you're going to make me cry." During the speech the basketball game had ended, causing the four boys too approach the rest of the group.

"Shut up Danforth. I might regret ever becoming friends with you."

"You'll never regret me. I'm the greatest thing that has happened to you since you won your first lead role in a play."

"That, I highly doubt, but you're right. I'll never regret you." She smiled at Chad as he sat down next to her, and threw and arm over her shoulder and brought her into a half hug.

"I'll never regret you either Shar."

Ryan watched the exchange between his sister and his ex-boyfriend. He knew they were still really good friends, probably one of the best his sister has ever had, besides her own brother of course. He was happy they could still get along, even after Chad and Ryan split.

He had to admit however, he was a little jealous. He missed Chad and wanted desperately for things to be okay between them again. He wanted to spend time with him before they both went away to college. He knew it was wishful thinking, but he couldn't help it. And would it kill his sister to be mad at Chad for breaking his heart, even just a little bit? She was his sister for crying out loud, why did she have to act all buddy, buddy with Chad? Immediately he realized how selfish that was, but again, he couldn't help it. They were the two most important people in his life, he wanted them all for himself. He figured if they had to hang out with other people, the fact that they hung out with each other was a good thing.

"I can't believe we only have three months left. It sucks we won't get to do this anymore." Gabriella's voice brought Ryan out of his Chad-trance.

"Do what anymore?" Zeke asked.

"This, all of us together. When I moved here, I had no idea what to expect. I sure didn't expect what I got though. Great friends, wonderful boyfriend, amazing memories. I guess what I'm trying to say, is thank you all for making the last two years of my life, the best they could possibly be."

The group once again smiled. Troy pulled Gabriella closer, and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"We wouldn't have had it any other way." Taylor said.

"That's right," Troy spoke up. "We're all in this together, no matter what happens next. Sure all of us are going our separate ways excluding Chad and Sharpay," glancing at the two of them, as Chad still had his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, "but, we are always going to be friends. Our friendship will last a lifetime."

"How do you know?" Ryan said, speaking for the first time since he got to the party. "How do you know that the distance in between all of us isn't going to tear us apart?" Chad cringed at how familiar those words sounded, seeing as how he knew that distance was one of major reasons for the end of the their relationship. "We are all going to be so busy with our new lives, in new states, with new friends. How do you know that we will still be friends four years from now?"

"I just do man."

"But how?"

"Because I know that I personally am still going to make time for all of you in my lives. I know that I will make new friends, and have a busy schedule with basketball and school, but that doesn't change the fact that the eight of you are my best friends, and nothing will ever change that. If you called me one night and needed my help," Troy went on, directing the statement at Ryan, "I would drop everything to help you. That's a promise. You all mean too much to me, to let you slip out of my lives because you're a few measly miles away."

At this Ryan swiveled his head, to move his gaze from Troy to Chad. He found that Chad was already looking at him. He missed the feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when Chad looked at him like that. He gaze was so intense, so full of desire and love. When Chad cast his eyes downward he turned back to Troy. "I wish everyone felt that way." Chad again cringed, and everyone else felt slightly uncomfortable. They knew who that statement was intended for.

He stood up, pulled Troy up with him as well, and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you. For everything. What you just said means a lot to me." When he pulled away, he walked away from the group without looking at any of them.

"Where is he going?" Jason asked.

Chad spoke up before anyone could answer Jason's question. "Thanks a lot, Troy."

"What did I do?"

"A few measly miles? Come on. If that wasn't a slap in the face, I don't know what was."

"I swear man, that wasn't my intention. All I was saying is that all of you are still going to be friends, no matter what."

"I know, I'm not really mad, but did you have to say it like that? I mean you pretty much took every reason I gave Ryan for us breaking up, and told him that those weren't good excuses for you to not be friends."

"Being friends and being in a relationship are two completely different things..."

"I know! God, I know. I just... I don't know, never mind, forget I said anything."

"Chad, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to..."

"its fine, Troy. I'm going to go get something to drink." Chad walked into the house.

"Do you really believe everything you just said?" Gabriella asked her boyfriend.

"Of course I do."

"What about those two? Do you think they will ever be able to back to being friends? Like real friends? Do you think they can ever hang out with each other and not feel a handful of pain in the process?"

"I don't know. I hope so."

"Me too." Kelsi added. "I can't stand to see the two of them like this."

"Me either." Taylor said. "Chad used to be larger than life, always smiling, always in a good mood. Now he smiles, but the gleam in his eye is gone."

"Ryan has always been somewhat of a moody person, I guess it runs in the family. I have never seen him as happy as he was when he was with Chad though. A smile was permanently attached to his face, and now a smile is a rare occurrence." Sharpay said. "But like I've said before, there is nothing we can do."

"I refuse to believe that." Gabriella always liked to be the mediator. "There has to be something we can do to help them. We can't just sit around and watch two of our best friends walk around in pain for the rest of our lives."

"What do you suggest we do?" Sharpay asked. "The pain will ease, it just takes time."

"We have to do something!"

"Look Gabriella, I know you like everyone to be happy, and trust me I want Chad and Ryan to be happy just as much as you do, but Shar is right. There is nothing we can do. They have to work this out on their own." Troy said taking Gabriella into his arms once again.

Gabriella sighed, but said nothing else.

"Hey, this is supposed to be a party." Zeke stood up, like he was about to give an inspiring speech. "We are supposed to be having fun, celebrating the end of high school, and the beginning of the rest of our lives. Chad and Ryan are still in pain from their break-up and I get it, but that doesn't mean we can't still have fun. I say we get inside and show everyone who the Wildcats really are. I think it's time to break it down on the dance floor."

"I agree, Zeke. Let's go." Taylor stood up as well, pulled Sharpay and Kelsi to their feet. Jason, Troy, Gabriella followed them into the house.

As they passed the kitchen, Troy called out to his best friend, "Chad, come on. We're headed to the dance floor."

Chad was about to protest but Taylor cut him off, "Chad Danforth if you don't get your ass on the dance floor, I'm going to tell everyone what you're mom calls you when you're in trouble."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Who was he to argue with Taylor when she throws a threat like that at him?


	15. Chapter 15

The gang made their way to the dance floor

The gang made their way to the dance floor. They all danced together, having contests every once in awhile. Out of the corner of his eye, Chad saw Ryan sitting by himself on the side, and stopped dancing. He was about to approach him, to apologize for earlier, even though he technically didn't do anything wrong, but stopped when he saw a dark haired guy approach him. He sat down next to Ryan, and they started talking. Jealously immediately flared throughout Chad as Ryan smiled at the guy. He recognized the other boy; he was Troy's cousin, Landon.

He absolutely hated Landon. They had met many times. Landon had spent a whole summer at Troy's house while his parents went to Europe. He was full of himself, deceitful, and a straight-up jerk. Okay, so that was just Chad's perception of Landon, but everyone else seemed to love him. There was just something about the guy that rubbed him the wrong way. It seemed Ryan was enjoying his company by the looks of it. Ryan threw is head back, laughing at something Landon had just told him. What the hell?

"Troy." Chad called, stopping Troy from dancing as well.

"Yeah?"

"Why is your cousin talking to Ryan?"

"Because it's a free country... I don't know."

Chad glared. "I hate your cousin."

"I know Chad, you've told me multiple times. Why is it a big deal if he's talking to Ryan."

"Because..." Chad stopped short. He didn't feel like getting into why it bothered him so much.

Troy looked at his best friend knowingly, "You're jealous aren't you?"

"No, I just don't think Landon is the right person for Ryan."

"And who would be this right person you speak of? You?"

"Shut up Bolton." Chad walked away from Troy and the rest of his friends that were still dancing, and walked towards Ryan and the unwelcome visitor. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Danforth."

"Bolton."

"Thought I'd see you running around here somewhere."

"I'm sure you did."

"You two know each other?" Ryan asked.

Chad turned his attention to his ex-boyfriend, "Yeah this is Troy's cousin."

"We've already had the pleasure of introducing ourselves. No need to worry about that Danforth." Landon spoke up.

Chad glared at him, "Whatever. Ryan can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Actually, I'm talking with Landon right now, so..."

"It's important." Chad grabbed Ryan's arm and started to pull him away. "Maybe we'll see you later, Bolton."

"You can bet on that. Bye Ryan."

"Bye," was all Ryan replied. Chad led them through the kitchen and to the backyard, which was now deserted. As soon as they stepped outside, Ryan removed his arm from Chad's grasp. "What the hell was that, Chad?"

"What? I just wanted to talk to you."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "About what?"

"About what Troy said..."

"Look, I really don't want to talk about it. It's not a big deal."

"Yes it is. You were upset earlier."

"Of course I was. I'm still upset that we broke up, excuse me for missing you."

Chad said nothing for a moment, then responded, "I miss you too."

"Don't do this. I don't want to get all gushy, and talk about how good we were together, and how much we've missed each other. I'm just not in the mood."

A look of pain crossed Chad's face. "You don't want to talk to me, but you want to talk to Landon."

"Oh give me a break. Is that what this was about? Because I was talking to another guy?"

Chad avoided the question. "Landon isn't a good guy."

"I'm not listening to this." Ryan said, starting to walk away. "We were just talking, leave it alone Chad."

"Ryan, please, just don't..."

Ryan cut him off, spinning on his heel to look at Chad again, "Stop. Just stop. You don't have any say in what I do or don't do anymore." With that, he continued the rest of the way into the house, leaving Chad alone in the cold darkness.

Chad arrived at the Evan's house around seven o'clock the next night, with the hopes that Sharpay would save him from his own boredom. He went to Troy first, but Chad was quickly informed that he had a date with Gabriella. Taylor was next on his list, but she was hanging out with her brother who was home for college. Sharpay seemed like the next best choice.

"Hey, Chad." Sharpay greeted as she answered the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here with the hopes that you aren't busy, and can possible hang out with me so I don't die of boredom."

"Just you're luck. Ryan and I just finished rehearsing for our community theater play. We should still be rehearsing, we desperately need it, but Ryan had to get ready for his..." Sharpay stopped short. Her eyes widened, when she realized what she was about to reveal.

"Get ready for his what?"

"Nothing. Let's go to the movies. I heard that new chick flick was really good." The words rushed from Sharpay's mouth. She grabbed Chad's arm and tried to not so subtly pull him out of the house.

Chad picked up on Sharpay's weird behavior. "What's wrong, Sharpay?" He pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Wrong? Why would you ask that? Nothing's wrong. So are the movies out? What about dinner, I'm starving."

"What is Ryan getting ready for?"

"I have no idea. Want to go Bowling?" Sharpay tried again.

"Why are you desperately trying to get me out of the house? What is Ryan doing that you don't want me to know about?"

"Chad..."

"Tell me, Sharpay, or I'm going to ask him myself."

Sharpay took a deep breath. She looked Chad right in the eye, and said, "He's going on a date."

Chad immediately took a step back as if he had been slapped in the face. Chad arrived at the Evan's house around seven o'clock the next night, with the hopes that Sharpay would save him from his own boredom. He went to Troy first, but Chad was quickly informed that he had a date with Gabriella. Taylor was next on his list, but she was hanging out with her brother who was home for college. Sharpay seemed like the next best choice.

"Hey, Chad." Sharpay greeted as she answered the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here with the hopes that you aren't busy, and can possible hang out with me so I don't die of boredom."

"Just you're luck. Ryan and I just finished rehearsing for our community theater play. We should still be rehearsing, we desperately need it, but Ryan had to get ready for his..." Sharpay stopped short. Her eyes widened, when she realized what she was about to reveal.

"Get ready for his what?"

"Nothing. Let's go to the movies. I heard that new chick flick was really good." The words rushed from Sharpay's mouth. She grabbed Chad's arm and tried to not so subtly pull him out of the house.

Chad picked up on Sharpay's weird behavior. "What's wrong, Sharpay?" He pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Wrong? Why would you ask that? Nothing's wrong. So are the movies out? What about dinner, I'm starving."

"What is Ryan getting ready for?"

"I have no idea. Want to go Bowling?" Sharpay tried again.

"Why are you desperately trying to get me out of the house? What is Ryan doing that you don't want me to know about?"

"Chad..."

"Tell me, Sharpay, or I'm going to ask him myself."

Sharpay took a deep breath. She looked Chad right in the eye, and said, "He's going on a date."

Chad immediately took a step back as if he had been slapped in the face. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Ryan was going on a date? With another guy? With someone other than him? He couldn't picture himself dating anyone else at this point, but the fact that Ryan was going on a date proved that he felt the opposite. "With who?" He asked in a whisper.

"I think that you should..."

"With who?" Chad asked more sternly.

"Troy's cousin."

Without saying anything more to Sharpay, Chad turned and sprinted up the stairs towards Ryan's room. When he reached the right door, he didn't hesitate throwing up the door, rushing in, and slamming it shut behind him.

"Landon! You're going on a date with Landon?"

Ryan jumped at the slamming door, and booming voice. He turned away from his full length mirror, to look at Chad. He could tell that Chad was furious, probably madder than he had ever seen him. Ryan opened his door, yelled, "Thanks a lot, Sharpay!" Then closed it again. He turned back to Chad, who was looking at him expectantly.

"What do you want Chad?"

"You're going on a date with Landon." This time, Chad didn't phrase it as a question, but rather a statement.

"I am."

"Why?"

"He asked."

Chad just stared at Ryan, as he went back to getting ready. He was wearing a pair of jeans, which didn't happen very often. His shirt was a long sleeve, black collared shirt, and a white tie hung around his neck. Chad watched as he walked over to his dresser, and placed a white hat upon his head. Damn Chad just wanted to swallow Ryan whole, with how good he looked.

"Are you just going to stand there the rest of the night, or..."

Chad cut him off, "Don't go."

Ryan rolled his eyes in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm serious. Don't go. Stay here, hang out with me." Chad practically begged.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because Landon is a creep. He'll use you, then throw you away like yesterday's trash."

"Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean I'm not going to."

"Fine, don't not go because of Landon, don't not go because I'm asking you not to."

"Oh my god..." Ryan rolled his eyes again.

"Please, stay here." Chad had upgraded from practically begging, to completely begging. He touched Ryan's arm, to make Ryan look at him. "Please, Ryan."

Ryan took a couple steps back so Chad was no longer touching him. "Don't do this to me right now, Chad."

"Do what? I just don't want you to go."

"Why don't you want me to go?"

Chad waited a beat, before replying. "I don't want you to go out with anyone else."

"Figured as much, but that's just too bad. You broke up with me over a month ago, remember?"

"I didn't break up with you because I stopped loving you, because I wanted to date other people." Chad's voice started to rise. He could feel his blood start to boil, at the thought of Ryan liking anyone else but him.

"I don't care what the reason was." Ryan snapped. "If you wouldn't have ended our relationship, I can almost guarantee you that we would still be together, but we aren't, and that's entirely you're fault."

The knock at the door, stopped Chad from responding. Sharpay poked her head in. "Ryan, Landon is here."

Ryan grabbed his wallet off his desk, and put it in his back pocket. "Thanks Shar, can you tell him I'll be right down?"

Sharpay nodded, and left the room.

"I'll see you later Chad."

This time, Chad ran in front of the door, blocking Ryan's way out. There were tears in his eyes. Ryan's words cut him deep, but he knew they were true. "Don't, Ryan. Please I'm begging you, don't go out with him. I love you."

"You can't say that to me anymore," Ryan said in a calm voice. "Please move."

Chad looked Ryan right in the eye. He realized that he was serious. He really did want to go out with Landon, and he really did blame him one hundred percent for their break-up. Without saying anything else, he moved away from the door, allowing Ryan to exit the room.

Chad followed Ryan out, but stopped at the top of the stairs. Ryan descended the stairs to the foyer, where Landon and Sharpay were standing.

"Hi, Landon."

"Hey. You look nice." Chad wanted to throw up at Landon's compliment.

"Thanks, so do you."

"You ready to go?" Landon asked.

"Yes I am." They both turned to walk out the door. "Bye Sharpay."

"See you guys later. Have fun." Sharpay said.

"You aren't going to say bye to me?" Chad finally spoke up from his spot on the stairs.

"Nope. Let's go Landon."

"See you later, Sharpay." Landon said. "Danforth."

"Bolton." That seemed to be the typical greeting between the two of them. Always on a last name basis.

The pair walked out of the house and Sharpay shut the door behind them. She turned to look up at Chad, who hadn't moved from the top of the stairs. "Chad, I'm sorry..."

"Whatever." Chad turned around and walked back into Ryan's room, and shut the door.


	16. Chapter 16

It was a little after midnight when Landon dropped Ryan off at his house

It was a little after midnight when Landon dropped Ryan off at his house. He was exhausted. He had fun with Landon, as much as it hurt him to admit it. It felt weird that he could have that much fun with a guy that wasn't Chad, but he figured he might as well get used to it. Chad was no longer in the picture. So he thought...

He walked into his room and turned on the light. He jumped back as he saw the figure in his bed. Chad. He could see Chad's shoes and pants folded up on the floor at the bottom of his bed, leaving him in only a t-shirt and boxers. He was lying in the middle of the bed, his arms flung over his head, his legs tangled in the sheets. How he slept like that, Ryan had no idea.

Ryan kicked off his shoes, before removing his own pants and collared shirt. He pulled a t-shirt from his drawer. He recognized it as one of the many he had stolen from Chad back when they were still dating, and never gave back. He loved Chad's shirts. They were a little too big for him, since Chad was taller and more muscular, but he loved them all the same. He loved swimming in the shirt that smelled like Chad.

He turned the light off before walking over the bed and sighing at the sight. What was he supposed to do about this? "Chad." No movement came from the darker boy. "Chad," Ryan called a little louder. When Chad still didn't stir, Ryan hit him in the arm. "Chad scoot over, or get out."

At this Chad started to wake up. "Ryan?"

"Yes it's me. Now either get out of my bed, or move over to your side."

Chad immediately shifted over, happy that Ryan didn't kick him out all together. Ryan climbed into bed, but faced so his back was to Chad.

After a moment of silence, Chad asked, "How was your date?"

"Good. I had a lot of fun."

Ryan could feel Chad cringe at the statement, as Chad burning holes in the back of his head with his eyes. "Are you going to go out with him again?" Ryan knew that it was a painful question for Chad to ask.

"Maybe."

An even more painful question... "Did you kiss him?"

Ryan turned over to look Chad in the face. "He gave me a peck on the lips. Just to say goodbye."

"Was this before or after he asked you out again?" Chad asked in disgust.

"After."

"And you said..."

"Maybe."

Chad said nothing else as threw an arm over his face, to block it from Ryan's view. Ryan knew he was trying to keep his emotions in check, but was obviously failing. Ryan wasn't going to apologize. Chad broke up with him; he had every right to go out with someone else. He wasn't going to lie about his date either. Chad was just going to have to suck it up.

"I'm sorry..." Chad whispered into the dark.

Ryan wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. For breaking up with him, for acting like a jerk earlier, for loving him. All Ryan said in response was, "I know."

"I miss you."

"I know."

Chad removed his arm from his face and turned to look at Ryan. "I love you."

Ryan turned over, so his back was once again to Chad, and shut his eyes tightly. Why did Chad find it necessary to do this? They broke up and he was doing his best to move on but Chad was making it difficult by confessing his love for him. Not to mention the fact that he was wearing little clothing while lying in his bed. "I know." He said again.

Chad threw his arm around Ryan's middle, and pulled him until his back was flat against his chest. "Ryan..."

"I love you too, damn it. Now shut up and let me sleep."

Chad smiled. It felt so good to hear those words again. He tightened his arm around Ryan, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

When Chad woke up the next morning, Ryan was already gone. He found Sharpay alone in the kitchen who informed him that Ryan had left earlier to go to a yoga class. Chad didn't even bother to ask why Ryan hadn't used the built in studio for his yoga workout. He was trying to get away from Chad.

"Look Chad, Ryan's just upset right now," Sharpay tried to explain. "He still loves you, but you two aren't together anymore. You don't have the right to be mad at him."

Chad sat down next to her, and put his head down on the table. "I freaking know that okay? I get it, I do. I'm the one that broke up with him, and I'm the one that broke his heart, but that doesn't make it easier to see him with someone else. That doesn't mean that I love him any less."

Sharpay gently rubbed Chad's back. "I'm sorry Chad."

"Thanks, Shar."

"Want to come to the mall with me? They are having a huge sale, that's only going on through the weekend."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Last time I went shopping with you, we spent an hour in every store. I don't think I have that much energy right now."

"Don't be a baby. We had fun last time, and you know it."

Chad groaned. "Can't you just call Taylor or Gabriella or something?"

"Taylor has vowed to never go shopping with me again and Gabriella is probably making out with her stud of a boyfriend that you call your best friend."

"I was actually supposed to hang out with Troy later."

"I'm sure he would love to hang out with you if he can find a way to detach his lips from Gabriella's."

"Nice visual there."

"I do what I can. Call Troy and ask him if he wants to come. If he and the old ball and chain are together, tell them both to come. The four of us will have tons of fun."

"I'm sure we will."

An hour later Chad, Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay were at the mall. Chad and Troy complained about how long they spent in every store Sharpay and Gabriella dragged them into, while wondering why they had agreed to this in the first place. Secretly Chad was happy that he decided to come. He felt refreshed from the hopelessness that was his relationship with Ryan. He was just hanging out with his friends, and having a good time, without worrying about what the future held for him. Chad was going to miss not only Ryan, but all of his friends when they all went their separate ways for college.


	17. Chapter 17

College

College. Chad loved it. Living on campus, meeting new people daily, parties, he loved it all. He even found his classes weren't so bad. He didn't particularly like school, never had, but it wasn't unbearable. And of course, there was Sharpay. Chad had a really hard time the first couple of months at USC, but Sharpay made the transition process a lot easier. He was homesick, never being away from his father longer than a couple of days. He wasn't making friends very easily, but after Sharpay introduced him to some people, and brought him along to parties and social events on campus with her, he began making a lot of friends and now, three months into the first semester, the college life was exciting. It helped that her dorm was in the same building as his.

"Hey, man." Chad lifted his head from his homework to see his roommate walking into the room.

"Hey Q."

Quincy Davis. All-American baseball player, at USC on a full ride scholarship. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. His black skin was a lot darker than Chad's, and had the smile that went for miles. Chad liked him, he was a great roommate, and the two had become pretty good friends. Not as good of friends as Quincy and Sharpay, however. The moment Sharpay and Quincy met, it was like they had been best friends their entire lives.

Quincy dropped down on the bed next to Chad, trying not to lie on the books Chad had spread out all around him. "What are you doing?"

"Studying."

"You're boring." Quincy rested his chin on Chad's shoulder so he was looking over Chad's shoulder and down onto his homework.

"How was baseball practice?"

"Same old, same old. I dominated."

Chad chucked, "I'm sure you did."

"I could use a little work out though. I don't think I worked up enough sweat out there on the diamond." Quincy snuck his hand under Chad's shirt and outlined his six pack with this his fingers.

Chad shivered at the contact. "Quincy, stop it."

"Stop what?" He asked as he continued to rub his fingers of Chad's stomach.

Chad pulled Quincy's hand away and stood up off the bed. "Are we going to have this conversation again?"

"One day you are going to realize how much you want me, Danforth." Quincy smirked.

"Well, that day isn't today, okay?"

Quincy looked taken aback. "What the hell crawled up your ass?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry, but I've told you a dozen times, that you and I can never be anything more than friends, yet you continue to hit on me. Look, I'm just stressed, I have a lot of homework to do and tests to study for."

"Fine, I'll leave you alone." Quincy stood up off of Chad's bed and made his way towards the door. "I'm going to go see if Sharpay is in her room."

Chad immediately felt guilty that he was leaving, "Q, you don't have to leave."

"Chad, its fine. I'll catch you later."

This time Chad let him go. He really did feel bad. Quincy was all but in love with him, but Chad wouldn't let himself take advantage of that. He didn't feel the same way about him, and it would be unfair to Quincy if he just used him to hook up every now and then. Don't get him wrong, Chad found Quincy very physically attractive, but his heart wasn't in it.

Chad dropped down on his bed, and went back to studying. Five minutes later he was interrupted by his door being open again. He had a habit of leaving it unlocked. "Hi, Chad."

"Sharpay," Chad greeted. "What brings you by?"

"I have to have a reason to come see one of my best friends in the entire world?" Sharpay sat down on Quincy's bed, directly across from Chad.

Chad laughed, "Guess not."

"Where's Q?"

"He actually went looking for you, he was mad at me. He's probably in your room right now."

"He mad you turned him down again?"

"Why else would he be mad?"

"I've been thinking..."

"Should I be worried?"

Sharpay glared at him. "Shut up, and let me continue. As I was saying, I've been thinking about your situation with Quincy, and I think you should go for it." Chad rolled his eyes. "No, I'm serious. You haven't dated anyone since..."

Chad immediately cut her off with a warning tone, "Sharpay."

"What? You guys have been apart for, what, 6 months?"

"7 actually," Chad responded softly.

"See, my point exactly. I was always rooting for you and Ryan, but now I think you need to get over my brother."

"And you think Quincy is the way to do that?" Chad asked sarcastically.

"Maybe, and who knows, maybe you'll end up falling in love."

"Damn it Sharpay, just stop, okay?" Chad yelled. "I really don't want to hear this." He wasn't sure why the thought of falling in love again gave him a horrible feeling in his stomach, but he knew he didn't want to talk about it.

Sharpay sighed, "I'm just worried about you. Like I said you haven't dated anyone since Ryan, and I want you to be happy. You can't mope around in your dorm room all four years of college."

"I know, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I appreciate your concern, but I'm just not ready to date anyone else, especially not Quincy. I know seven months is a long time, and I haven't even talked to him in the three months that we've been at school, and I should be over our break-up by now, but I'm not. I have no idea if Ryan has moved on, and I don't want to know. It's just going to take some time."

Sharpay stood from the bed, and gave Chad a hug. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's fine, I know it was out of concern for my well-being."

Sharpay smiled. "So, you want to take a break from all this studying and go get some food with me? I'm starving."

"Sure, but I think we should drop by your room first, see if we can find Quincy. Once he found you weren't there, I'm sure he managed to convince Olivia to let him hang out there until you came back." Olivia was Sharpay's roommate. She was really nice, but quiet, and mostly kept to herself. Her boyfriend went to USC as well, but lived in an off campus apartment, so spent a lot of her time over there.

"Alright, well let's go. If I don't eat soon, I'm going to die of starvation."

Chad laughed and threw his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, leading her out the door. "Have I told you lately how grateful I am for our friendship?"

"That was the corniest thing I think I've ever heard you say, and no you haven't."

"I don't care, and I am."

Sharpay turned to smile up at him. "Me too." Chad returned the smile.

They walked down the stairs, and towards her room. When they walked in the door, there was Quincy, sitting on Sharpay's bed just like the expected, with Olivia no where in sight. There was another person in the room however, sitting on the bed next to Quincy. It was the last person that either of them thought it would be.

"Ryan." Chad said so softly, he was sure no one heard him.

"Ryan!" Sharpay yelled, as she ran across the room, launching herself into Ryan's welcoming arms.

"Hi Shar!"

"What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Ryan smiled at the excitement in his sister's voice. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well you did. I'm so happy you are here." She hugged him again. "I've missed you, so much. How long are you here? What about your classes? You didn't drop out of school did you? Oh my god, did you get kicked out?"

Ryan just laughed, "No I didn't get kicked out. I'm just here for the weekend. I don't have class on Friday's, so I flew in today, and I leave Sunday night."

Sharpay squealed, and Ryan realized just how much he missed her. They talked on the phone, and the internet all the time, but it wasn't the same as seeing her. "So Q, I see you met my twin brother, Ryan."

Quincy smirked, "I have. We were just getting to know each other a little bit." Chad could tell from the tone in his voice that he was flirting with Ryan. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and instead kept them fixated on Ryan's face, where they haven't moved from the time he walked into the room. He stood in the farthest corner away from Ryan, and kept his mouth shut. He didn't think he could speak now if he wanted to.

"Quincy is Chad's roommate," Sharpay said.

Ryan finally turned his attention from Sharpay and Quincy to look at Chad still standing in the corner. "Hi Chad."

Shit, Ryan actually spoke to him. Chad could feel himself becoming all twitchy and nervous again, just at the sound of his voice. Now what did he say? "H-H-Hi..." Chad stuttered out.

"Are you going to stand over there the whole night, or are you going to come over here and give me a hug? I haven't seen you in over three months."

Chad slowly walked over to where Ryan was standing. He hesitated for a moment, before walking the rest of the way into Ryan's outstretched hands. "It's nice to see you," Chad whispered, so only Ryan could hear him, still hugging him.

Ryan gave Chad a tight squeeze before pulling away and smiling at Chad.

"Hey, we were just about to go get some food. Q, we were coming to look for you to see if you wanted to come. Now that Ryan is here, the four of us are going." Sharpay said, leaving little room for argument.

"Sharpay, I still have a lot of studying to do..." Chad tried to get out of it. As good as it was to see Ryan, he couldn't be in the same room with him and not jump him. Not yet at least.

"You're coming." Sharpay demanded.

Ryan laughed softly, "Since when does Chad Danforth study?"

Chad smiled slightly. "It doesn't matter, Chad is coming, and so are both of you," Sharpay directed at Ryan and Quincy.

"Let's go." Quincy said. On the way out the door, Chad heard Quincy ask, "So Ryan, do you like baseball?"

At that moment he had never wanted to punch Quincy in the face more. He grabbed Sharpay's arm before she walked out of the door after them, "If he hits on Ryan the whole night, I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Stop acting like a jealous boyfriend. Come on, I was serious when I said I was starving." Sharpay led Chad out of the room to catch up with her brother, and Chad's roommate.


	18. Chapter 18

Dinner went semi-smoothly

**Alright… here it is, the last chapter. I can't believe it's finally over. I was going to keep going with the story, but I decided that I'm going to use the rest of the plot in a new story that I'm writing. Thanks to all of you who have replied, and added this story to your alerts. You're feedback has been wonderful, and I greatly appreciate it. Let me know what you guys think of the end. **

Dinner went semi-smoothly. Quincy made it very obvious that he was hitting on Ryan, but no one said it out loud. Chad knew he was only doing it to make him jealous. It was working, but not for the reasons Quincy hoped. Every time he smiled, touched, or winked at Ryan, Chad's glare grew. It didn't help that Ryan was flirting back. It took everything in him not to make a scene in the middle of the restaurant. Luckily Sharpay kept the conversation flowing nicely.

Once dinner was over, they walked back towards their dorm, giving Ryan a mini tour of the campus on the way. As soon as they reached Sharpay's door, her phone rang.

"Dylan?" Chad asked with a knowing smile. Dylan was a guy in her philosophy class that had been chasing her for weeks. She was playing hard to get, but Chad knew that she was into him.

"Shut up. I'm gonna take this, you guys go inside." She took her keys from her purse and tossed them to Chad, as she answered her phone. The three boys entered the room, leaving Sharpay in the hall.

"So Sharpay has a new guy? Why have I not heard this?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah his name is Dylan. I'm pretty sure he's in love with her." Quincy spoke up.

"They aren't dating or anything. He's really smitten with her though. He kind of reminds me of Zeke following her around."

Ryan laughed at Chad's description of guy, while Quincy looked confused.

"Who's Zeke?"

"One of our friends from high school," Ryan said. "He was practically in love with Sharpay. He followed her everywhere, did anything she asked him to. He made her cookies, brownies, and other pastries on a daily basis."

"They never made it official though. Zeke took her to prom and what not, but they were never a couple," Chad added.

"She was still too hung up on Troy."

Quincy turned from and Ryan to address Chad, "You're best friend Troy?"

"One in the same. They never dated either. Troy always has and always be in love with Gabriella."

"Couldn't agree more. Troy comes to New York practically every weekend to see her."

"He never comes to visit me," Chad stated acrimoniously. "Some best friend he is."

"That's because he gets to do things with Gabriella that he doesn't get to do with you."

Chad shot a disgusted look at Ryan. "If you're talking about sex, you are sick. I do not want to think of my best friend having sex with anyone."

"When did you become such a prude?" Ryan asked.

"I'm not a prude, I'm just saying. Troy is like my brother. Would you want to be filled in on Sharpay's sex life?"

"Good point."

"It sounds like you guys have amazing friends," Quincy said. "Have you two been friends along time?"

Chad suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was headed. He knew he shouldn't. The length of their friendship was the only thing in question, but Chad did not want it to turn into a question about their relationship.

Ryan, however, smirked at the question. "You could say that."

"Yeah, Chad is fun to hang out with." Quincy put his arm around Chad's shoulder. "We have fun, don't we Chad?"

Chad quickly cut his eyes to Ryan. "Uh... sure."

Quincy turned back to Ryan, smiling, "We have a special relationship."

The smirk never left Ryan's face. "Is that right?"

Chad shrugged Quincy's arm off. "We're just friends," He said, while unsure if he was addressing Ryan or Quincy.

Quincy chuckled as if Chad was playing a joke. "Chad's a little shy."

"Since when?" Ryan asked, knowing that Chad was anything but shy.

"I'm not shy, Q. Shut up, man."

"Don't be so modest. We all know that I'm irresistible." Quincy flashed a smile not only at Chad, but Ryan also.

That's when Chad finally snapped. "Alright Q, that's enough. Get lost."

"What? We're hanging out, just having fun."

"Not anymore."

"You're jealous," Quincy stated. He moved to put his arm around him again. "You know you're the only guy for-"

Chad quickly cut him off. "I'm not jealous. At least not for the reasons you think I am."

Ryan laughed loudly. He knew exactly what Chad was referring to, but the fact that Quincy had no idea was hilarious.

"I don't get it."

Chad ignored him. "Go find Sharpay or something. Ryan, do you want to go for a walk?"

Ryan, who was still enjoying the scene that was unfolding, nodded. "Sure, it's pretty nice outside. Quincy, good to meet you. I'm sure I'll see you again."

Quincy reached out and pulled Ryan into a hug. "Good to meet you too."

Chad pulled Ryan out of Quincy's grasp, extremely annoyed at their body contact. "Let's go, Ryan."

Chad pulled Ryan out the door, as Quincy stood in the doorway. Sharpay was still in the hallway, sitting on the floor, her back pressed against the wall, her phone pressed against her ear, with a huge smile on her face. When she saw them start to walk away, a look of annoyance crossed her face. "Where do you two think you're going?" She asked holding the phone away from her mouth.

"For a walk and no you can't come." Chad answered, as he continued his path down the hallway still holding Ryan's arm.

"Chad, you can't hog my brother!"

He finally stopped at the end of the hallway. "Watch me." He and Sharpay were practically yelling to hear each other.

"He came here to see me, not spend all his time with you."

"That's what you think." Before Sharpay could protest, Chad added, "Don't worry I'll give him back later." Without waiting for a response, Chad dragged Ryan around the corner and out of sight of Sharpay and Quincy, who was still standing in the doorway.

"So now I'm an object for you and my sister to fight over?"

Chad turned and looked Ryan directly in the eyes. "Yes." He dropped Ryan's hand but continued to walk. "We've always been in competition for your attention. I usually won."

"I see college has made you full of yourself."

"I've always been full of myself... except when it came to you."

They exited the building, walking out into the cool night. Chad had no destination in mind, but figured it would be nice to just walk and see where their feet took them.

Ryan decided to change the subject. "So you and Q, huh?"

"You jealous?" Chad raised his eyebrows.

"Not for the reasons you think I am," Ryan repeated Chad's earlier words.

"Very funny, but no. Don't listen to a thing Q said. He's cool, we're friends, he's my roommate, we hang out a lot, but he's practically admitted to being in love with me and I don't feel the same way. I've told him many times but he refuses to listen."

"You ever hook up with him?"

Chad didn't want to answer that question, but knew lying was a bad idea. "Once, about a month into school. We went to this party Sharpay invited us too, and both of us ended up slightly intoxicated. He told me he thought I was hot from the moment we met. Next thing I knew we were making out in his bed. I stopped before things went too far. The next day he asked me out on a date, but I turned him down. I felt bad, making out with him just to turn around and tell him that nothing could ever happen between us. He never really did get the picture though, so I no longer feel bad about telling him I'm not interested."

"Why didn't you go out with him?"

"You really want to know?"

Ryan hesitated as if having a debate with himself before answering, "Yeah."

"I was still in love with you."

"Was?" Realizing what he asked, and immediately regretting asking it, he said, "Never mind, don't answer that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Ryan couldn't handle whatever answer Chad gave him. Even after all this time, he knew that it would still break his heart if he heard Chad tell him that he wasn't in love with him anymore. If he was still in love with him, well, what was he supposed to do with that information? They still lived 3,000 miles away. Feeling a little bold, however, he added, "I miss you in New York."

"Really? Sharpay says you love it there."

"That means I can't miss you?"

Chad chuckled. "Guess not."

"You guys talk about me?"

"Sometimes. Only when I bring it up. If I ask, she'll talk about you, but she doesn't volunteer information. Plus she's pushing for me to be with Q, so I think she wants you to be as far away from my mind as possible."

"Why she pushing for Q?"

"She thinks it's unhealthy for me to still be hung up on you. She thinks since Quincy already likes me, that it would be easy for me to move on with him."

Guess that answered the earlier question, Ryan thought. "Makes sense I guess."

Neither wanted to continue in the direction of the conversation, so Chad changed the subject. "So tell me all about New York."

"You don't want to hear about that."

"Why not? When I actually do ask about you, Sharpay can't stop gushing about how much you love New York, and how happy you are. Now that I think about it, she must do that to try and prove to me that you've moved on, so I'll do the same.

Ryan sighed. "That's what I tell her... that I'm happy and I've met a lot of people. That my classes are amazing and I love the campus, and everything is great..."

"But..."

"But its not."

"You want to expand on that?" Chad grabbed Ryan's arm and dragged him over to a bench on the other side of the walkway. He sat down while prompting Ryan to do the same.

"Not really."

"Come one, we've always been able to talk to each other."

"We aren't together anymore."

"What does that have to do with talking? Talk to me."

Ryan hesitated, not sure where to start. "Truth is I hate New York." Chad looked shocked, so Ryan decided to explain. "It's cold, I've decided that snow is gross, the people are all snobs, I'm talking worse that Sharpay snobs, my roommate hates me, I was so excited that me, Gabriella, and Jason were all going to be going to school in the same state, but I never see them, I hate my classes, and like I said... I miss you."

"Damn, I wasn't expecting that. Why lie to Sharpay though?"

"She's really happy here. I don't know if you realize it, but she loves it. I know you have a big role in that too. I don't want her to worry about me. This is the first time we've ever been apart for an extended amount of time, but she's enjoying herself without me. I don't want to take that away from her."

"She misses you, a lot. To her the only flaw of California is that you aren't here and that one flaw is a major one."

"Yeah, I know. I just... I don't know what I was going to say actually." Ryan gave a slight pout. "New York sucks," he added, sounding childish.

Chad chuckled, putting an arm around Ryan's shoulders, giving him a sideways hug. "I agree. Now I feel bad about stealing you away. Maybe we should head back." Chad started to stand up but Ryan pulled him back down.

"No. I can hang out with her all day tomorrow. Right now, I'm enjoying spending time with you."

Chad smiled at him. "Me too."

They sat in silence for a few long minutes. They enjoyed being in each other's company, and they didn't need to fill the silence with words.

After sometime, Ryan broke the silence. "Chad?" He practically whispered.

"Mmmhmm..."

"I'm glad you aren't dating Quincy... or anyone." Chad turned to look at Ryan, to find him already staring at him.

Not really knowing what to say, Chad just stared at Ryan for a moment before leading to give Ryan and intimate kiss on the lips. The kiss was slow, light, and sensual, and Ryan swore it was the best kiss he ever experienced.

When Chad finally broke the kiss, Ryan shuddered. "Wow, I forgot how much I loved doing that."

"Me too. I've missed you so much. I can't even begin to explain it." Chad threw his arms around Ryan hugging him close. Ryan stayed quiet, knowing Chad wasn't finished. "I'm so happy you're here." Chad was starting to get choked up. "We've been apart for seven months, and my feelings have never gone away, never even lessened." Ryan heard a slight sob. "I'm so sorry."

Ryan tightened his hold around Chad. "I know, me too."

Chad pulled back just enough to attack Ryan's lips with his own. These kisses were much deeper and much quicker that the previous one.

After a few minutes, Ryan pulled away. "Chad, let's go. People are staring."

Chad grabbed Ryan's hand and all but started running towards the dorm. "Stay with me tonight."

"What about Sharpay? She'll get worried and Q will be..."

"Let me take care of Q. As for Shar, well, she's out of luck. Like you said, she can have you tomorrow."

Chad continued to drag them across campus. He was a man on a mission. When they finally got to his building, he walked straight to his room. The room was already unlocked, so he threw open the door to see Q sitting on his bed. Why he felt the need to sit on Chad's bed, instead of his own, Chad had no idea.

"Get off my bed, and get out."

Quincy got off his bed, but made no move to leave the room. "You can't kick me out. This is my room too."

"I'm serious Quincy."

Quincy ignored the demand, and instead focused on the fact that Chad was still holding Ryan's hand. "Sharpay told me about you two in high school."

"Then you understand why you need to leave," Chad said harshly, dropping Ryan's hand.

"Chad..." Ryan tried to cut in, but Quincy talked over him as if he wasn't even standing there.

"I don't get why you didn't tell me. The least you could have done is be honest with me. The reason you didn't want to go out with me is because of Ryan."

"I told you I just got out of a serious relationship."

"You didn't tell me it was with Sharpay's twin brother," Quincy spat.

"It wasn't any of your business," Chad shot back.

"Okay, can we just..."

Again, Quincy cut Ryan off. "You lied to me."

"I did not. What difference does it make if it was Ryan or some other random guy? It does change the fact that it was with someone I wasn't over. It was a fact that you needed to know."

Chad and Quincy stared at each other. Chad looked frustrated while Quincy just looked hurt.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." Ryan started to back out of the room.

As if remembering he was there, Chad turned to look at him. "Please don't leave."

"It's fine. You guys work it out. I'm going to go find Sharpay." With that, Ryan turned and left the room.

"You happy now?" Chad bitterly asked.

"Actually, I'm not."

"What do you want from me, Q?"

Ignoring the question, Quincy answered, "I love you."

Chad sighed, and closed his eyes in frustration. "Q... I've told you many times that… I'm flattered, I really am, but I just don't feel the same way about you. It wouldn't be fair to either of us if we pursued a relationship. I like hanging out with you. You're my friend, but that's all you'll ever be. I'm sorry."

"Because of Ryan?"

Chad nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry," he repeated.

"I'm sorry too." Quincy made his way towards the door. "I'm gonna go stay in Sharpay's room, I think Olivia's with her boyfriend for the weekend. I'll send Ryan back."

"You don't have to leave. You were right, I shouldn't kick you out of your own room."

"Don't take back your demand just because I told you I love you. Plus, I don't really want to be here to see the Ryan and Chad reunion show."

"I wouldn't do that to you. I'll leave, you can stay."

"Don't worry about Chad. I'll see you later."

As Quincy left the room, Chad flopped down on to his bed, throwing his hands over his face. He felt bad about Q, but he didn't know what it was going to take to make him realize that they would never be more than friends. Quincy had never actually admitted to being in love with him. Why did he have to admit them today of all days? It ruined his good mood. A few minutes later, Ryan walked in.

"You're a good person Chad Danforth." At Chad's doubting glance, Ryan continued. "Sometimes dong the right thing can be the hardest thing. I'm proud of who you've become. It sucks Q's heart was broken in the process, but it's not your fault."

"Thanks Ryan," Chad responded, squeezing his hand.

"You're welcome."

"I've missed you so much. I know I already told you that, but it's true."

"I've missed you too. A lot more than I realized. I miss being with you, but it's more than that. I miss talking to you, just being in your presence.

Chad shifted so his head was in Ryan's lap, and he could stare directly up into Ryan's eyes. "I know what you mean. Life isn't the same without you."

Ryan leaned down and kissed Chad soundly on the mouth. When he pulled away, Chad could sense something changed. By the look in Ryan's eye, it seemed like he just solved a puzzle.

"What?" Ryan just smiled. "What is that look for?"

"I love you." He said is so simply and so naturally. It felt like he was born to say those words to Chad.

Chad broke out into the biggest smile. "I love you too." He tried to pull Ryan's head down for another kiss, but Ryan pulled away.

"Let's go find Sharpay."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, come on."

"What the fuck? Why the hell would you want Sharpay to be present for..."

"Just come with me."

They made their way to Sharpay's room. They knocked and a few seconds later Sharpay opened the door. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were..." She stopped, looking back to where Quincy was sitting at her desk.

"Ask you crazy brother," Chad said acrimoniously, as he pushed past her into her room. "I have no idea what's going on. If it were up to me would still be in my room, having..."

"Shut up Chad." Sharpay demanded, and looked at Ryan expectantly, but he turned to Quincy instead.

"Quincy, I'm really sorry but..."

"You want me to leave." He said standing up.

"I'm sorry I really need to talk them. Last time I promise."

Quincy left the room without saying anything else or looking at Chad at all.

Once the door closed, Sharpay asked, "Ryan what's this all about?"

"I'm moving." Ryan stared at the pair, who both looked perplexed.

Chad was the first to respond. "What are you talking about? Moving where?"

"California."

Chad's face became even more perplexed, but something inside Sharpay clicked.

"Oh my gosh, you got in?" She jumped off the bed and into Ryan's arms.

"I got in."

"Got in where?" Chad asked.

The twins ignored him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Tell you what?" Chad tried again.

"I wanted to tell you in person."

"Tell her what?" Chad was getting angry.

"I'm so excited!" Sharpay squealed.

"Hello?" Chad finally yelled. "Can someone please tell me what's going on here?"

Ryan smiled, and obliged. "A couple of months ago I decided I didn't want to attend New York. I told Sharpay I was going to apply to other schools, to see if I could get in somewhere with a better theater department, even though New York has one of the best departments in the whole country, and she thought I loved New York."

"Wait, you don't love New York."

"Oops, I forgot you didn't know about that yet. Whatever, that's not the point. The point is I applied the USC film school. I got in. I'm moving to California and I'm going to USC."

Sharpay squealed and hugged Ryan again.

When the broke apart they both turned to gage Chad's reaction. He sat staring at Ryan, trying to take in the new information. "You're moving to California?"

"I am."

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack."

"If this is a joke, I'm seriously going to kill you."

"It's not a joke. Next fall, I'm going to be enrolled at USC." Chad said nothing, still trying to decide if Ryan was telling the truth. "Chad, are you okay with this?" Ryan was starting to get a little worried.

Finally Chad let out a shout of glee as he jumped off the bed, and hugged Ryan tighter than ever before. "So I take it you're happy about this?"

"Are you kidding? I'm ecstatic. You're going to be at the same school as me. We can see each other all the time."

"Well, I don't know about that..." Ryan joked.

"Shut up, we will." He hugged Ryan again. "I'm so happy. I love you." He slammed his mouth on Ryan's. He didn't waste anytime in prying Ryan's mouth open with his tongue, deepening the kiss.

Sharpay cleared her throat, keeping them from going further. "I am still in the room."

"That can easily be arranged." Chad opened the door and tried to push her out.

"This is my room, and that is my brother. You've already taken up all his time since he's been here."

"Either you leave, or you can watch us have sex. We're doing it one way or another."

"You're sick Danforth. Fine I'll just go stay in your room, but make sure you do it on Olivia's bed. I don't want your sex germs on my bed."

"You got it. Bye Sharpay."

"Thanks, Shar," Ryan tried to yell before the door closed.

Chad wasted no time in returning his mouth to Ryan's. "So you're really going to USC?"

Ryan stroked the side of Chad's face. "I really am."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They smiled at each other, before returning to their make out session.

"It has been too long since we've done this," Chad said breathlessly, as he removed Ryan's shirt.

"Way too long. Now, no more talking."

"I like the way you think, Evans."

Chad threw one more smirk at Ryan, before kissing me hard on the mouth. Clothes were shed, sweet phrases were whispered, body parts were caressed, their names were moaned by each other. The two were so good together, it was like they had never been apart. Ryan Evans and Chad Danforth were the epitome of true love


End file.
